LIFE  OF 


GEN.  BEN  HARRISON. 


BY 


GEN.  LEW  WALLACE, 
\N 

Author  of  «  BEN  HUR." 


ALSO, 


LIFE  OF  HON.  LEVI  P.  MORTON 


BY 

GEORGE  ALFRED  TOWNSEND, 

(OATH.) 


FULLY  ILLUSTRATED. 


HUBBARD  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

PHILADELPHIA,  CHICAGO,  KANSAS  CITY; 

GUERNSEY  PUBLISHING  Co.,  Boston;  JAS.  MORRIS  &  Co.,  Cincinnati; 

PERRY  PUBLISHING  Co.,  Denver;  A.  L.  BANCROFT  &  Co., 

San  Francisco. 


E70 

W/3 


o 


COPYRIGHT,  1888,  BY  HUBBARD  BROS. 


PREFACE. 


critical  reader  will  discover  in  this  biography 
many  crudities  in  the  way  of  unstudied  sentences 
and  inapposite  paragraphing,  not  to  speak  of  words 
badly  chosen.  It  is  thought,  however,  that  the  reminder 
of  the  one  month  given  in  which  to  prepare  it  for  the 
press  will  be  sufficient  to  win  him  to  the  side  of  mercy. 
Dictation  is  undoubtedly  a  conveniency  where  one  is 
under  whip  and  spur,  but  as  a  method  its  tendencies  are 
all  to  slovenliness  and  inexactitude.  Here  it  was  an 
only  resort. 

Apropos  of  the  prefatory,  the  political  world  is  served 
with  special  notice  that  while  General  Harrison  was 
very  kind  in  furnishing  the  writer  with  information 
when  it  was  requested  of  him,  he  is  in  no  degree  re 
sponsible  for  anything  in  the  work,  except  it  appears  in 
the  form  of  a  copy  or  extract  from  his  own  reported  ut 
terances.  He  neither  read  nor  heard  read  one  line  of 
the  text;  neither  was  he  consulted  as  to  the  topics 
treated  nor  the  arrangement  adopted ;  in  short,  his  sole 

7954  J  <  »  (5) 


6  PREFACE. 

responsibility  in  the  connection,  aside  from  the  excep 
tion  stated,  is  referable  to  the  fact  that  when  it  was  put 

* 

upon  him  to  choose  a  biographer  he  expressed  a  prefer 
ence  for  the  undersigned. 

LEW.  WALLACE. 

NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  Augitstb,  1888. 


CONTENTS. 


LIFE  OF  BENJAMIN   HARRISON 


CHAPTER   I. 

ANCESTRY. 

Thomas  Harrison — Benjamin  Harrison,  the  Signer — William  Henry 
Harrison — John  Scott  Harrison  .  .  .  .  .  •  .  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

CHILD,   BOY  AND  STUDENT. 

"Syrnmes*  Purchase" — Old  Tippecanoe's  Wedding — Settled  at 
North  Bend — Tippecanoe's  Home  Life — John  Scott  Harrison's 
Home  Life — Benjamin  Harrison's  Childhood — His  Schooling — 
Church-going — Academic  Work — In  College — His  Literary 
Preferences — His  Mother's  Influence — Miss  Caroline  \V.  Scott — 
His  Graduating  Speech 37 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  LAWYER. 

Out  into  Life — A  Law  Student— Married — Settled  in  Indianapolis — 
Early  Struggles — Crier  in  the  Federal  Court — His  First  Trial — 
Success — An  Extempore  Speaker — At  Housekeeping — Partner 
ships — A  Tilt  with  Mr.  Hendricks — Growing  Reputation — Su 
preme  Court  Reporter — The  War — Off  to  the  Front — Ousted 
from  the  Reportership — Triumphantly  Re-elected — Back  from  the 

(7) 


8  CONTENTS. 

Front— Habits  as  a  Lawyer— The  Defence  of  General  Hovey — 
Harrison's  Argument  in  Full— The  "Lieutenant-Governor's 
Case  " — The  Case  Stated — Scene  in  the  State  Senate  Chamber — 
General  Harrison's  Argument — A  Partner's  Estimate  of  Harrison 
—The  Case  Rested 66 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SOLDIER. 

The  Dark  Days  of  1862— More  Troops  Demanded— Interview  with 

Governor  Morton— Enlisted  for  the  War — Second  Lieutenant 

Colonel  of  the  Indiana  Seventieth — To  Bowling  Green Bridge 

Building — Successful   Attack   on    a    Camp — Army   Associates 

Guarding  Railroads— Drilling  the  Troops— Located  in  the  2oth 
Corps — Grant  in  Command  of  the  Armies — Activity  Under  Slier- 
man— At  Resaca — The  Battle  of  Resaca — Topography — Plan  of 
the  Battle— An  Early  Start— Getting  Ready  for  the  Fight— Fix 
Bayonets— Charge  !— Forward  !— The  Redoubt  Captured— The 
Guns  Secured— Resaca  at  Mercy— Building  Breastworks— Living 
Under  Fire— New  Hope  Church— Cold  and  Wet— In  a  Wrong 
Position— Harrison  in  the  Hospital— A  Discomfited  Major— At 
Gilgal  Church— Coffee  and  Hard-tack— Off  Again— Kenesaw 
Mountain— An  Assault  Checked— The  General  Engagement— To 
pography  of  the  Field— The  Fight— Johnston  "Off  with  the 
Wind"  Again— Peach  Tree  Creek— Awaiting  Battle— Sharp 
Fighting— Clubbed  Muskets— Critical  Moments— Hooker's  Com- 
pliment  to  Harrison— A  Shotted  Salute — Harrison  Ordered  to 
Home  Duty— Back  at  the  Front— The  Battle  of  Nashville—Col 
ored  Troops— Down  with  Illness— Rejoins  Sherman— Promoted— 
The  Grand  Review. 

OPINIONS  OF  OLD  COMRADES.— Richard  M.  Smock— M.  G.  McLain 
—William  H.  Cooper— Captain  P.  S.  Carson— General  John 
Coburn— Daniel  Watts— Fred  Hummel— Rev.  Edmund  Muse- 
Colonel  Samuel  Merrill — Captain  H.  A.  Ford — Andrew  A.  Bu 
chanan — End  of  Military  History  .  .  ,  ,  •  •  '77 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  POLITICIAN. 

Political  Parties  Born  of  Popular  Liberty — Birth  of  the  Republican 
Party — Its  First  Nominating  Convention — Its  Second  Convention 
— "Popular  Sovereignty" — Election  of  Abraham  Lincoln — The 
War — Reconstruction— Existing  Issues — Harrison's  Political  Be 
ginnings — In  the  Fremont  Campaign — Subsequent  Presidential 
Campaigns — His  Gubernatorial  Canvass  —  Declination  —  Com 
pelled  to  Accept  the  Nomination — On  the  Stump — Pen  Sketch  of 
his  Opponent— Uncle  Jimmy  Williams — Defeated,  but  Honored- 
Services  for  his  Party — Esteemed  by  President  Garfield — Chosen 
United  States  Senator — Resuming  his  Law  Practice. 

REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION  of  1888. — Place  of  Meeting — Organiza 
tion — Balloting — Choice — Vice-Presidential  Nominee — Visit  of 
the  Committee  to  Inform  him — General  Harrison's  Reply. 

OPINIONS  ON  LIVE  ISSUES.— Civil  Service  Reform— Civil  Rights — 
Surplus  in  the  Treasury — A  Stable  Currency — The  Financial  Ques 
tion — Fiat  Heresy — The  Tariff— The  Labor  Question — Pensions — 
Foreign  Policy — Restoration  of  the  American  Navy — Miscellane 
ous  Politics — Crimes  Against  the  Ballot — Suppression  of  the  Re 
publican  Vote— Control  by  the  Majority— Public  Lands— Trusts 
and  "  Combines  " — Anarchists — Prohibition  and  the  Third  Party — 
The  Soldier's  Friend — American  Steamships — Ireland  and  Irish 
men—Sisters  of  Charity— Labor  Strikes  of  1877— Governor's 
Proclamation — Governor  Williams  and  Captain  Harrison — Peace 
able  Settlement — Intercession  for  Strikers — Memorials  from 
Knights  of  Labor — The  Outlook — The  Chinese  Question — Anson 
Burlingame— The  Banquet  at  the  Lick  House— The  Chinese 
Treaty — The  Restriction  Law  of  1882 — The  word  "  Laborers  " — 
The  Restriction  Law  Passed. 

WAITING  FOR  THE  VERDICT   .»..,...  247 


IO  CONTENTS. 

LIFE  OF  LEVI  P.   MORTON. 

Rhinecliff-on-the-Hudson — Ellerslie — Historic  Surroundings — -Mr. 
Morton's  Personnel — Ancestry — Ministers'  Families — New  Eng 
land  Pastors'  Sons— Mr.  Morton's  Brother  and  Sisters — Early 
Homes — School-teacher — Store  Clerk — In  Charge  of  a  Store — A 
Share  in  the  Business — Boston  and  New  York — Morton  &  Grinnell 
— Married — An  Early  Republican — L.  P.  Morton  &  Co. — Morton, 
Bliss  &  Co.— The  Alabama  Claims— The  Business  of  Banker— 
His  Pleasing  Manners — Specie  Resumption — Mr.  Morton's  Work 
in  Congress — Grace  Home  for  Poor  Children — Honors  Conferred — 
His  Wife's  Accomplishments — His  Happy  Family — His  City  Res 
idence — Respected  Abroad — Good  Will  Promoted — A  True  Re 
publican — A  Friend  of  Art — Mr.  Morton's  Newport  Home — 
President  Arthur  and  Mr.  Morton — Ellerslie  Described — Business 
Men  for  Public  Places — The  Irish  Famine — Generous  Giving — 
Benefits  to  Ireland — Newspaper  Comments — New  York  Times — 
New  York  Herald — Evening  Post — The  Tribune — Commercial 
Advertiser — New  York  W<rrld—  Minister  to  France — A  Man 
Without  Animosities — A  True  Patriot — Reminiscences — Various 
Items — Government  Draft  of  $5,500,000  in  Gold — On  Garfield's 
Election — Union  League  of  New  York — On  Legislation — Bi 
metallism — Republican  Financial  Policy — Promoting  Fish  Culture 
— Aiding  Mechanics — Louisiana  Interference — Specie  Resump 
tion — Garfield  and  Conkling — French  Courtesies— Bartholdi — 
The  People's  Verdict  .  .  «  .  .  .  .  .  349 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

George  Washington 439 

John  Adams    .         .        .  • ".        .         .451 

Thomas  Jefferson  .        , 455 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

James  Madison        .        .        .        .        •        o        .        «        .        .  461 
James  Monroe         .        .        ...        .        •        •'      .. »        .        .  464 

John  Quincy  Adams «        .        •  4^8 

Andrew  Jackson  ,        ......    '    ,         .  472 

Martin  Van  Buren 479 

William  Henry  Harrison 482 

John  Tyler      .  486 

James  Knox  Polk 49° 

Zachary  Taylor 494 

Millard  Fillmore 499 

Franklin  Pierce 502 

James  Buchanan 5°6 

Abraham  Lincoln    .         .         .        .  • 511 

Andrew  Johnson .         .         .  519 

Ulysses  S.  Grant 522 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes 530 

James  A.  Garfield 532 

Chester  A.  Arthur 537 

Grover  Cleveland 54° 


CITIZENS'  HAND-BOOK. 

Presidential  Contests 545 

Presidential  Elections — Popular  and  Electoral  Votes   .     .         .         -553 

Election  Regulations 556 

Voters'  Qualifications       » .         .557 

Table  of  Presidents          * 558 

Vice-Presidents  «        .  0        •        *        •        -559 

Cabinets  «,  .  *  -  «  -  «  .  »  .  .  559 
Army  Commanders  0  «  •>  «  «  •  *  •  •  565 
Navy  Officers  ..........  566 

Speakers  of  the  House 567 

Congressional  Representation 567 


12  '    CONTENTS. 

Supreme  Court        .        .  »        .        o        .        .        .         .  569 

States  Furnishing  Chief  Officers       .        .         .        <=         . .-     "«        .  57° 

Our  Representatives  Abroad 57 l 

Diplomatic  Corps 572 

Pay  of  Navy  Officers       .         .        ...         .         .        .         .  573 

Pay  of  Army  Officers .574 

Pensions          .        .        . 574 

Balance  of  Trade 575 

Revenues  of  the  United  States 576 

Public  Debt -577 

Political  Division  of  the  House 578 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


GENERAL  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  (Steel).......  —  ™ 

CARPENTERS'  HALL  AND  STATE  HOUSE,  PHILADELPHIA PAGE    25 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON «... ~    "       2? 

TIPPECANOE  PROCESSION 

RIVER  VIEW  AT  "SYMMES'  PURCHASE" "       39 

IDEAL  TIPPECANOE  LOG-CABIN *- «••    "        45 

HARRISON'S  FIRST  HOME  IN  INDIANAPOLIS ~~    "       79 

OFF  FOR  THE  FRONT '•«• "'• 

THE  BATTLE  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS "    "      l88 

CLOSE  QUARTERS  AT  RESACA • 

CAVALRY  DASH  AT  NEW  HOPE  CHURCH "     203 

BATTLE  OF  KENESAW  MOUNTAIN •    "     2I3 

MARCHING  THROUGH  GEORGIA 

INDIANA  SEVENTIETH  IN  THE  SWAMPS  OP  GEORGIA "     231 

CAPTURING  THE  BATTERY "      239 

DEATH  OF  GENERAL  McPHERSON  BEFORE  ATLANTA "     =47 

NOMINATION  OF  HARRISON 

HARRISON'S  PRESENT  HOME,-.... "     273 

MRS.  BENJAMIN  HARRJSON 


1 4  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

HON.  LEVI  P.  MORTON  (Steel) „.....,., PAGE  351 

ELLERSLIE,  MR.  MORTON'S  HOME  ON  THE  HUDSON "  401 

EAST  FRONT  OF  THE  CAPITOL , "  439 

MONTICELLO,  JEFFERSON'S  HOME "  457 

MENTOR,  GARFIELD'S  HOME "  533 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE ~~ "  545 

STATE,  WAR  AND  NAVY  DEPARTMENT «.. "  561 


GEN.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON 


A   BIOGRAPHY. 


GENERAL  LEW.  WALLACE, 

AUTHOR   OF   "BEN   HUR.V 


CHAPTER  T. 

ANCESTRY. 

EVERY  citizen  is  free  to  contend  for  honor  and 
preferment  in  our  country,  and  the  contention  is 
perpetual.  A  peculiarity  of  the  struggle  is  that 
the  whole  people  witness  the  start,  the  effort,  and 
the  outcome.  When  at  length  a  contestant 
emerges  from  the  throng,  ready  to  lay  his  hand 
upon  one  of  the  great  prizes,  every  spectator  de 
mands  to  know  all  there  is  knowable  of  him. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  just  reached  that 
point  in  a  career  for  the  Presidency,  and  it  is  to 
at  least  partially  gratify  the  hunger  of  the  multi 
tude  for  information  of  the  man  that  these  pages 
are  respectfully  offered  them. 

There  shall  never  be  a  perfect  biography  that 
does  not  tell  the  reader  who  its  subject  is,  and 
what,  aside*  from  his  name  and  the  place  and  date 
of  his  birth.  That  shall  be  the  best  biography 
which  gives  us  the  incidents  of  his  life,  and  at  the 
same  time  an  insight  into  his  nature  and  charac 
ter  ;  so  that,  when  we  have  risen  from  the  read 
ing,  it  will  be  possible  to  say  and  believe  we  know 
him  in  and  out,  and  that  he  is  worthy  or  unworthy 
our  respect  and  confidence. 

2  (17) 


y$  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

To  every  life  there  is  a  beginning  and  an  end; 
it  is  the  same  in  the  narration  of  lives,  only  the 
difficulty  in  the  latter  is  to  find  the  true  beginning. 
That  difficulty  is  before  the  writer  now. 

Undoubtedly  the  American  people,  when  sitting 
in  judgment  upon  an  individual  who  has  ventured 
to  claim  their  attention  and  bespeak  their  good 
will,  care  little  for  his  ancestry.  It  is  the  person 
himself  that  is  on  trial.  They  know  that  good 
fathers  have  base  children  ;  and  in  such  cases  the 
invocation  of  the  worthy  progenitors,  by  exciting 
compassion  for  them  as  a  result  of  comparison, 
but  intensifies  the  opinion  invariably  reached  re 
specting  the  descendants.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  record  discloses  a  scion  in  whom  the  noble 
traits  of  his  forefathers  are  continued  and  yet 
further  exemplified,  the  same  people  rejoice  at 
the  discovery  and  make  haste  to  take  him  into 
favor.  In  fact  this  is  the  American  law  of  the 
case — well  for  the  parent  if  he  have  a  worthy 
son,  well  for  the  son  if  he  have  had  a  worthy 
parent. 

With  such  a  view  of  the  law,  there  would  be 
no  hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  writer  in  dealing 
with  the  ancestry  of  the  Benjamin  Harrison 
whose  life  he  is  called  upon  to  give.  There  is  no 
fear  of  the  consequences  of  fair  comparison.  The 
traits  that  endeared  the  forefathers  to  their  coun 
trymen  will  be  found  in  the  descendant.  The 
qualities  of  mind  that  raised  them  to  distinction 


ANCESTRY.  1 9 

have  been  not  less  promotive  of  him.  Their  de 
votion  to  freedom,  to  the  good  of  the  masses,  to 
principle,  to  truth  and  God,  he  has  equally  illus 
trated.  They  were  wise  in  peace ;  so  is  he. 
Their  courage  in  war  has  been  a  matter  of  emu 
lation  with  him.  They  were  willing  to  be  offered 
in  sacrifice  for  their  country ;  he  has  made  it 
possible  for  his  generation  to  believe  them  sincere 
in  the  offer. 

The  question,  however,  admits  of  another  view. 
Simple  literary  requirement  bids  that  notice  be 
taken  of  the  antecedent  Harrisons.  A  man's 
history  is  often  found  quite  as  much  in  what  has 
gone  before  his  birth  as  in  what  has  succeeded  it. 
Omission  of  the  first  part  would  leave  his  biog 
raphy  but  half  written.  If  the  reader  is  careless 
of  the  first  part,  he  is  at  liberty  to  skip  it :  never 
theless,  as  certainly  as  a  book  has  a  reader,  it  has 
also  a  critic.  We  take  the  liberty  of  giving  this 
chapter  to  the  ancestry  of  Benjamin  Harrison, 
the  Republican  candidate  for  President. 

THOMAS    HARRISON. 

There  was  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  cen 
tury  a  Thomas  Harrison,  known  as  Harrison  the 
Cromwellian.  It  is  thought  that  he  began  life  as 
a  vendor  of  beef  in  the  open  market,  and  he 
might  have  continued  such  indefinitely  in  his 
native  England  but  for  the  quarrel  between 
'  Charles  I.  and  Parliament.  Macaulay  has  made 


20 

it  unnecessary  to  speak  at  length  of  the  points 
involved  in  that  dispute.  Briefly  stated,  the  king 
claimed  certain  privileges  by  prerogative  right. 
Parliament  denied  the  claim,  and  protested  against 
it  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  England.  There 
tofore  there  had  been  English  kings  and  barons ; 
then  for  the  first  time  an  English  people  was  dis 
tinctively  heard  of.  The  dispute  was  waged 
through  a  long  term  of  years.  Parliaments  came 
and  went  at  the  royal  pleasure.  At  last  one  assem 
bled  to  stay.  In  the  meantime  battles  had  been 
fought,  and  war  grew  into  a  normal  condition  of 
the  country,  finally  involving  Cromwell  and  his 
Roundhead  battalions.  With  reputation  born  of 
hard  fighting  and  much  praying,  not  to  speak  of  a 
skillful  use  of  Scriptural  phrases,  illustrative  of 
sincere  religious  convictions,  up,  one  of  many, 
rose  Thomas  Harrison.  Swapping  his  butcher's 
apron  for  a  martial  cloak,  he  at  length  appeared 
a  Lieutenant-General,  beloved  by  the  companies, 
trusted  by  Cromwell.  Nor  were  his  talents  of 
exclusive  application  to  the  field.  One  great  day 
he  was  found  in  his  seat,  a  member  of  the  Parlia 
mentary  Court  in  session  for  the  trial  of  Charles  I. 
There  is  an  historical  picture  of  the  assemblage 
in  ruffs  and  broad-brimmed,  steeple-crowned  hats, 
sitting  solemn  as  ghosts,  with  the  king  over 
against  them  face-to-face.  A  company  of  ghosts 
had  been  doubtlessly  of  pleasanter  aspect  and 
sweeter  effect  to  the  monarch's  troubled  soul 


ANCESTRY. 


Lieutenant-General  Harrison  was  amongst  them. 
Though  now  unrecognizable,  we  know  he  was 
there  because  his  signature,  in  a  hand  clear, 
legible,  almost  as  bold  as  John  Hancock's  on  an 
instrument  of  yet  greater  celebrity,  may  be  read 
below  the  death-warrant  which  was  the  final  reso 
lution  of  the  high  court.  Opposite  it  is  his  seal 
in  red  wax  on  which,  singularly  enough,  is  stamped 
an  eagle  winged  like  the  bird  on  our  silver  dollar. 
The  staunchness  of  the  man  was  subsequently 
tested.  Upon  the  return  of  the  royalists  to 
power,  like  other  regicides,  he  might  have  fled  to 
America,  and  found  refuge  in  its  impenetrable 
woods.  That,  however,  was  not  his  way.  He 
remained  at  home,  was  seized,  summarily  con 
victed,  and  executed.  Pepys  was  an  eye-witness 
of  the  execution,  and  saw  the  heart  of  the  round 
head  Lieutenant-General  borne  round  as  evi 
dence  that  the  son  of  the  king  had  come  to  his 
own.  again. 

This  Thomas  Harrison,  right-hand  man  of  the 
great  English  Protector,  has  been  claimed  by 
certain  historians  as  ancestor'  of  the  American 
Harrisons.  The  proofs  do  not  exactly  sustain 
the  assertion.  The  date  of  the  emigration  of  the 
descendants  of  the  unfortunate  soldier  is  wanting. 
In  fact  it  is  not  positively  known  that  he  had  de 
scendants  to  emigrate.  Still  a  tradition  in  the 
family  holds  him  one  of  them,  and  it  is  corrob 
orated  by  the  probabilities.  England  under 


22  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Charles  II.  would  have  been  an  unpleasant  resi 
dence  for  children  of  a  regicide.  The  induce 
ments  to  fly  to  Virginia  were  irresistible.  But 
whatever  of  truth  there  may  be  in  the  claim  that 
Thomas  Harrison  the  Cromwellian  was  a  fore 
father  of  the  present  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
is  of  little  consequence,  except  as  it  may  establish 
that  the  family  is  of  Roundhead  origin  versus 
Cavalier,  and  that  its  founder,  rising  from  the 
people,  fought  and  died  for  the  people.  Wher 
ever  the  dust  of  the  heart  torn  from  his  breast 
for  the  perfection  of  the  revenge  of  a  tyrant  may 
be,  pity  that  it  is  unrecognizable !  There  would 
be  one  at  least  to  hold  it  sacred.  Wherever  his 
bones  were  buried,  if  burial  they  had,  peace  to 
them! 

BENJAMIN    HARRISON,    THE    SIGNER. 

The  next  ancestor  of  whom  we  hear  is  of  posi 
tive  identity. 

There  is  a  genealogical  tree  of  the  Carters  of 
Virginia  of  elaborate  and  careful  preparation  on 
which  appears  the  name  of  one  Benjamin  Har 
rison,  of  Berkley.  He  secured  his  place  on  the 
record  by  virtue  of  intermarriage  with  the  Car 
ters.  A  little  further  on  appears  a  second  Ben 
jamin  Harrison,  also  of  Berkley,  and  he  has  the 
immortal  inscription  attached  to  his  name — 

SIGNER     OF     THE     DECLARATION    OF     INDEPENDENCE. 

He  is  recorded  as  having  married  a  Miss  Bas- 
sett. 


ANCESTRY.  23 

Thenceforward  the  genealogy  of  the  American 
Harrisons  is  removed  from  doubt. 

The  Carter  tree  referred  to  shows  several 
children  born  to  the  second  Benjamin,  of  whom 
William  Henry  Harrison  was  second  son. 

There  was  great  glory  in  being  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Still  it  might  have 
been  a  fortuity.  Happy  accidents  are  of  daily 
occurrence.  Let  us  turn  to  history  and  see  what 
kind  of  man  the  signer  was.  In  what  esteem 
did  his  contemporaries  and  fellow-citizens  hold 
him  ?  The  answer  may  surprise  a  great  many 
readers.  It  is  right,  moreover,  to  measure  his 
influence  and  capacity  by  the  honors  of  which  he 
died  possessed. 

In  1764,  when  little  more  than  a  boy,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  of 
which  he  quickly  became  Speaker. 

This  was  in  provincial  days.  Attracting  notice 
of  the  royal  governor,  that  worthy  sought  to  win 
him  to  his  side.  Directly  that  the  excitement 
caused  by  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  arose, 
young  Harrison  was  offered  a  seat  in  the 
Executive  Council.  He  rejected  the  overture. 
Throwing  off  all  reserve,  he  proclaimed  himself 
a  Republican,  and  from  that  time  was  a  leader 
in  the  opposition  to  British  oppression. 

In  1774  he  was  one  of  the  first  seven  delegates 
from  Virginia  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

In   1775  he  was  re-elected  delegate   to  Cori^ 
gress; 


24  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

In  the  same  year  he  was  of  the  committee  ap 
pointed  by  Congress  to  co-operate  with  George 
Washington,  then  chief  commander  of  the  army 
before  Boston,  in  devising  ways  and  means  for 
military  operations. 

In  1776,  when  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  under  consideration  by  Congress  in  com 
mittee  of  the  whole,  he  was  in  the  chair  presid 
ing.  On  the  4th  of  July  he  voted  for  the  Decla 
ration,  and  on  the  4th  of  August  signed  it. 

In  1777  he  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,  but 
was  at  once  elected  a  Burgess,  and  upon  taking 
his  seat  in  the  House  was  chosen  Speaker,  and 
remained  such  until  1782.  Arnold  invading  Vir 
ginia,  Harrison  was  made  commander  of  the 
militia  of  his  county,  and  rendered  good  service 
in  repelling  the  traitor.  Yet  later  he  took  the 
field  against  Cornwallis. 

In  1782  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia, 
then  a  State  of  the  American  Union.  Having 
filled  the  office  twice  in  succession,  he  retired  to 
private  life  only  to  be  returned  again  to  the 
House  of  Burgesses. 

In  1791  he  was  chosen  Governor  of  the  State 
a  third  time,  but  died  before  inauguration. 

It  is  not  possible  to  sneer  away  the  honor  of 
this  record.  Indeed,  it  would  be  surpassingly 
strange  should  such  be  the  disposition  of  any 
American.  If  the  glory  attaching  to  a  Signer  of 
the  Declaration  might  not  be  transcended,  it  was 


ANCESTRY.  '2$ 

left  to  a  son  to  sustain  and  even  add  to  it.     Let 
us  see. 

WILLIAM    HENRY    HARRISON. 

Benjamin,  the  Signer,  was  rich  when  he  entered 
public  service;  but  as  the  newly  born  country 
was  poor,  he  was  lavish  of  his  own  means,  and 
died  in  comparative  poverty.  The  second  son, 
William  Henry,  was  under  age  when  his  father 
was  laid  away. 

Though  he  had  the  guardianship  of  Robert 
Morris,  the  financier,  his  affairs  were  so  badly  off 
that  he  determined  to  find  a  livelihood  in  the  prac 
tice  of  medicine,  and  for  that  purpose  was  in 
Hampden  Sidney  College  when  a  great  Indian 
war  broke  out  in  the  West.  He  laid  his  books 
aside  to  join  St.  Clair' s  army.  Robert  Morris 
opposed  the  scheme,  but  President  Washington 
favored  it,  and  commissioned  him  ensign  in  the 
first  regiment  of  regular  artillery,  then  in  garrison 
at  Fort  Washington,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati. 
This,  let  it  be  remembered,  was  when  he  was 
nineteen  years  of  age. 

He  won  his  first  distinction  immediately.  Har- 
mer  had  been  defeated  by  the  Indians.  A  like 
misfortune  befell  St.  Clair.  The  consternation 
was  universal.  He  performed  a  perilous  duty  in 
the  dead  of  winter  with  such  eclat  that  his  vet 
eran  chief  St.  Clair  caused  him  to  be  promoted 
full  lieutenant.  In  1793  he  joined  Mad  Anthony 
Wayne,  and  was  installed  aide-de-camp.  In 


2d  BENJAMIN    JIAKR1SON. 

Wayne's  official  report  of  his  victory  he  made 
mention  "of  his  gallant  aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant 
Harrison,"  who  was  shortly  promoted  captain, 
and  placed  in  command  of  Fort  Washington,  with 
discretionary  authority. 

In  1797  Wayne  died.  Captain  Harrison  re 
signed  from  the  army,  and  was  appointed  Secre 
tary  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  ex-officio 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

So  satisfactory  to  the  people  was  the  young 
man's  administration  that,  in  1 798,  the  Territory 
having  become  entitled  to  a  seat  in  Congress, 
he  was  chosen  delegate. 

In  the  first  session  succeeding,  the  Northwest 
ern  Territory  was  divided  ;  a  separate  Territory, 
now  the  State  of*  Ohio,  was  carved  out  of  it,  the 
residue  becoming  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  of 
which  Harrison  was  appointed  Governor. 

The  vastness  of  the  region  which  thus  fell 
under  his  sway  was  but  little  comprehended.  It 
embraced  Michigan,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Indiana,  and 
all  the  vaguely  bounded  Louisiana,  then  of  re 
cent  purchase.  Few  empires  have  equalled  it  in 
extent.  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
as  at  that  time  constituted  had  three  important 
white  settlements :  Clark's  Grant  at  the  falls  of 
the  Ohio  ;  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash  ;  a  third  on 
the  Mississippi.  The  country,  forest  and  prairie, 
was  Indian.  The  business  of  the  young  Gover 
nor,  was  to  wrest  it  from  savagery;  and  for  that 


ANCESTRY.  2  7 

purpose  he  was  clothed  with  power  more  nearly 
imperial  than  any  ever  exercised  by  one  man  in 
the  Republic.  He  was  authorized  to  adopt  and 
publish  such  laws,  civil  and  criminal,  as  were  best 
adapted  to  the  condition  of  the  Territory;  he 
could  arbitrarily  create  townships  and  counties, 
and  appoint  "civil  officers,  and  militia  officers 
under  the  grade  of  general.  Most  extraordinary 
of  all,  however,  to  him  belonged  the  confirmation 
of  an  important  class  of  land  grants.  In  this  re 
gard  his  authority  was  absolute.  Other  approval 
or  countersign  was  not  required.  The  applica 
tion  was  to  him  originally ;  his  signature  was  the 
perfect  evidence  of  title.  When  one  thinks  of 
the  temptations  to  which  he  was  subjected,  and 
of  the  fortune  he  might  have  amassed,  the  fact 
that  he  issued  from  the  trial  poor,  and  without  a 
taint  upon  his  honor,  must  be  regarded  as  cred 
itable  to  him  in  the  highest  degree.  His  repu 
tation  maybe  rested  upon  this  circumstance  quite 
as  safely  as  upon  his  military  record. 

As  Governor  of  Indiana  Harrison  was  ex- 
officio  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  to  which 
was  shortly  added  the  commissionership  for  treat 
ing  with  the  Indians.  These  duties  brought  him 
into  connection  with  the  tribes,  and  ultimately 
called  him  to  the  field  against  them. 

The  sketch,  necessarily  hurried  and  brief,  pre 
sents  William  Henry  Harrison  as  a  civilian ;  the 
reader  is  now  invited  to  study  him  as  a  soldier. 


28  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

He  must  be  brought  to  mind  a  young  man,  tall, 
slender,  handsome,  of  graceful  carriage,  military 
in  manner,  with  large  black  eyes  and  an  intel 
lectual  face.  In  1798,  when  he  was  ruler  of  the 
Territory  of  Indiana,  he  was  but  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  and  of  extremely  youthful  appearance. 

From  Vincennes,  his  seat  of  government,  he 
held  communication  with  the  authorities  of  Wash 
ington,  and  strove  to  keep  the  great  Indian  tribes 
in  check,  basing  his  policy  in  dealing  with  them 
upon  a  foundation  of  justice.  He  could  probably 
have  kept  peace  with  them  but  for  the  intrigues 
of  the  British  in  Canada,  and  the  ambition  of  the 
two  brothers,  Tecumsek,  the  Crouching  Panther, 
and  Elkswatawa,  the  Loud  Voice  or  Prophet.  In 
1806  these  children  of  the  forest  dreamed  of  a 
universal  confederation  of  all  the  tribes  for  the 
redemption  of  the  Western  world  from  the 
usurpations  of  the  pale-faces,  and  to  that  end  set 
a  great  conspiracy  on  foot.  They  had  promises 
of  support  from  the  Father  beyond  the  Great 
Lake.  Eventually  Tecumseh  challenged  the 
young  governor  at  Vincennes  to  the  conflict. 
There  were  at  that  time  scalps  of  white  women 
and  children  flying  on  a  string  at  his  wigwam 
door.  The  defiance  was  accepted.  Harrison 
took  the  field  in  person. 

On  the  morning  of  November  7,  181 1,  he  fought 
and  won  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe. 

The    victory,    as    respects    consequence,    was 


ANCESTRY.  29 

nullified  by  the  war  with  England,  known  as  the 
War  of  1812. 

The  first  engagement  was  disastrous  to  the 
American  arms.  The  surrender  of  Fort  Detroit 
by  General  Hull,  after  a  fight  which  remains 
incomprehensible  to  this  day,  gave  the  enemy  a 
base  of  operations  on  the  soil  of  the  United 
States.  It  had  the  effect,  however,  of  arousing 
the  martial  spirit  of  the  entire  Northwest.  The 
thoughts  of  all  the  men  in  that  region  turned  to 
Harrison  as  their  saviour.  The  jealousy  of  the 
then  Secretary  of  War  was  evaded  by  his  appoint 
ment  as  Major -General  of  the  Militia  of  Kentucky. 
On  the  ist  of  September,  1812,  the  President 
formally  commissioned  him  Brigadier-General, 
with  instructions  to  take  command  of  all  the 
forces  in  the  Territories  of  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
His  authority  was  remarkable — "  Exercise  your 
own  discretion,  and  act  in  all  cases  according  to 
your  own  judgment.''  He  was  already  in  the  field 
when  the  instruction  was  received.  Afterwards 
everywhere  that  he  met  the  enemy  in  person  he 
was  successful. 

He  repulsed  the  British  and  Indians  at  Fort 
Meigs.  To  a  demand  for  surrender,  he  replied, 
"  Tell  General  Proctor  that  if  he  shall  take  the 
fort  it  will  be  under  circumstances  that  will  do 
him  more  honor  than  a  thousand  surrenders." 

In  an  open  field  fight  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames  he  drove  the  British  from  their  chosen 


30  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

position,  Tecumseh  fell  there  fighting  like  a 
hero.  His  confederacy  fell  with  him. 

The  reputation  of  Harrison  spread  throughout 
the  nation,  and,  driven  to  resignation  by  the  jeal 
ousy  of  Armstrong,  Secretary  of  War,  he  left  the 
army  with  the  popular  entitlement  of  FATHER  OK 
THE  NORTHWEST. 

From  the  alarms  of  war  the  good  man  sought 
peace  in  the  bosom  of  his  family.  But  again  the 
people  demanded  service  of  him. 

In  1824  he  was  elected  Senator  of  the  United 
States  from  Ohio.  Then,  after  a  short  term  as 
Minister  to  the  Republic  of  Colombia,  he  retired  to 
his  home  at  North  Bend  on  the  Ohio  river.  The 
governor,  the  general,  the  senator,  resolved  him 
self  into  the  farmer,  and,  old  Roman-like,  was  con 
tent  to  follow  the  plough.  Still  the  people  claimed 
him. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1839,  a  National 
Whig  Convention  at  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania, 
nominated  him  unanimously  their  candidate  for 
the  Presidency.  The  race  was  one  of  the  most 
memorable  in  our  political  annals.  Eighteen 
hundred  and  forty  became  a  year  of  mark  for 
events  public  and  private.  Never  was  there  a 
rising  of  the  people  so  spontaneous  and  effective. 
The  whole  land  teemed  with  processions  and  re 
sounded  with  songs.  William  Henry  Harrison 
was  elected,  and  as  President  of  the  United  States 
administered  the  government  precisely  one  month, 


ANCESTRY.  31 

when  he  died,  leaving  a  clean  record  of  the  most 
varied  service  extending  through  a  period  of  fifty 
years.  The  day  will  come  when  the  humble 
tomb,  sheltering  the  bones  of  the  hero  on  the 
knoll  above  the  Ohio,  will  be  changed  to  a  monu 
ment  significant  of  the  gratitude  of  the  millions  at 
home  in  the  Northwest,  with  the  redemption  of 
which  he  had  so  much  to  do  as  Citizen  and  Sol 
dier. 

The  message  he  delivered  at  his  inauguration 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  was  a  plain  document 
of  the  style  of  Washington.  Some  of  the  senti 
ments  advanced  therein  have  a  peculiar  per 
tinency  to  politics  of  to-day.  The  following  ex 
tracts  will  no  doubt  be  understood  and  appreci 
ated: 

But  the  greatest  danger  to  our  institutions  appears 
to  me  to  be,  not  so  much  in  an  usurpation  by  the  Gov 
ernment  collectively  of  power  not  granted  by  the  people, 
as  in  the  accumulation  in  one  of  the  departments  of 
powers  which  were  assigned  to  others 

I  proceed  to  state  in  as  summary  a  manner  as  I  can 
my  opinion  of  the  sources  of  the  evils  which  have  been 
so  extensively  complained  of,  and  the  correctives  which 
maybe  applied.  Some  of  the  former  are  unquestionably 
to  be  found  in  the  defects  of  the  constitution.  Others  in 
my  judgment  are  attributable  to  a  misconstruction  of 
some  of  its  provisions.  Of  the  former  is  theineligibility 
of  the  same  individual  to  a  second  term  of  the  presidency. 
The  sagacious  mind  of  Mr.  Jefferson  early  saw  and 
lamented  this  error 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  as  a  general  truth,  that 
no  Republic  can  commit  a  greater  error  than  to  adopt  or 
continue  any  feature  in  its  system  of  government  which 


32  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

maybe  calculated  to  create  or  increase  the  love  of  power 
in  the  bosoms  of  those  to  whom  necessity  obliges  them 
to  commit  the  management  of  their  affairs;  and  surely 
nothing  is  more  likely  to  produce  that  effect  than  the 
long  continuance  in  the  same  hands  of  an  office  of  high 
trust.  Nothing  can  be  more  corrupting,  nothing  more 
dangerous  to  all  those  noble  sentiments  and  principles 
which  form  the  character  of  a  devoted  Republican  pa 
triot.  When  this  insidious  passion  once  takes  posses 
sion  of  the  human  mind  like  the  love  of  gold  it  becomes 
insatiable.  It  is  the  never-dying  worm  in  his  bosom, 
which  grows  with  his  growth  and  strengthens  with  the 
declining  years  of  its  victim.  If  this  be  true  it  is  the  part 
of  wisdom  for  a  Republic  to  limit  the  service  of  that 
officer  at  least  to  whom  she  has  entrusted  the  manage 
ment  of  her  foreign  relations,  the  execution  of  her  laws, 
and  the  command  of  her  armies  and  navies  to  a  period 
so  short  as  to  prevent  his  forgetting  that  he  is  the  ac 
countable  agent,  not  the  principal ;  the  servant,  not  the 
master,  of  the  people.  Until  an  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution  can  be  effected,  public  opinion,  if  firm  in  its 
demands,  may  secure  the  desired  object.  I  cheerfully 
second  it  by  renewing  the  pledge  heretofore  given  that 
under  no  circumstances  will  I  consent  to  serve  a  second 
term. 

I  consider  the  veto  power,  therefore,  given  by  the 
Constitution  to  the  executive  of  the  United  States,  solely 
as  a  conservative  power  to  be  used  only — 

1st.  To  protect  the  Constitution  from  violation. 

2d.  The  people  from  the  effects  of  hasty  legislation, 
where  their  will  has  been  probably  disregarded  or  not 
well  understood,  and 

3d.  To  prevent  the  effects  of  combinations,  violative 
of  the  rights  of  minorities. 

JOHN    SCOTT   HARRISON. 

The  third  son  of  President  William  H.  Har 
rison  was  christened  John  Scott.  His  life  was 


ANCfiSTRV.  33 

comparatively  uneventful.  Still  it  should  not  be 
passed  as  unworthy  separate  notice. 

His  youth  was  spent  upon  the  farm  at  North 
Bend.  The  repeated  and  long-continued  ab 
sences  of  his  father  in  and  about  official  duties 
demanded  a  confidential  agent  to  superintend 
home  affairs.  So  it  resulted  that  the  second  of 
the  sons  became  a  farmer ;  and  from  all  that  can 
be  gleaned  of  him  this  was  strictly  in  consonance 
with  his  tastes.  He  was  of  a  quiet,  meditative 
turn.  The  bustle  and  jostling  of  great  crowds 
were  distasteful  to  him.  He  loved  best  to  sit  with 
his  family  by  the  door  of  summer  evenings.  The 
education  of  the  boys  absorbed  every  thought 
aside  from  his  farm.  He  lived  chiefly  for  them. 
As,  in  his  later  years,  the  goodly  acres  melted 
away,  he  sacrificed  pride  and  personal  comforts, 
everything,  indeed,  but  honor,  in  the  settled  de 
termination  to  see  them  equipped  for  their  several 
races. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  he  was  naturally 
an  inferior  or  that  he  was  without  capacity.  On 
the  contrary,  he  was  a  fair  writer  and  a  speaker 
of  power. 

In  his  youth  and  middle  age  the  parties  repre 
senting  the  chief  political  divisions  of  the  coun 
try  were  Democratic  and  Federal.  In  1840  they 
were  Whig  and  Democrat.  Following  Jefferson 
and  Jackson,  John  Scott  Harrison  became  a 
Democrat,  and  remained  of  that  party. 


34  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Recognizing-  his  merit  and  capacity,  his  political 
friends  succeeded  in  drawing  him  from  retirement 

o 

long  enough  to  represent  his  district  twice  in 
Congress ;  and  it  is  said  that  he  could  have  been 
returned  to  the  seat  indefinitely.  But  the  cares 
and  harassments  of  business  and  his  innate  pref 
erence  for  home  smothered  the  last  spark  of  am 
bition  in  his  breast. 

Contemporary  members  of  Congress  remem 
ber  him  as  active  in  the  discharge  of  official 
duties.  Constant  at  committee  meetings,  they 
say  he  was  ready  in  speech  and  always  com 
manded  a  hearing  on  the  floor. 

In  August,  1861,  the  Democratic  State  Con 
vention  held  at  Columbus  nominated  John  Scott 
Harrison  for  lieutenant-governor,  with  Hugh  J. 
Jewett  for  first  place  on  the  ticket.  Dr.  Johnson, 
then  secretary  of  the  central  committee  of  the 
party,  formally  notified  him  of  his  nomination. 
In  a  letter  described  as  smoothly  written  in  a 
flowing  hand,  and  without  an  erasure  or  omission, 
Mr.  Harrison  declined  the  honor.  The  year  1861 
is  forever  sadly  memorable  as  that  of  the  out 
break  of  the  great  rebellion.  It  may  be  of  interest 
to  the  reader  to  know  the  position  occupied  by 
the  father  of  the  present  candidate  for  the  Pres 
idency  in  that  day  of  uncertainty  and  general 
political  rupture.  The  following  is  the  gentle 
man's  letter  of  declination : 


ANCESTRY.  35 

POINT  FARM,  O.,  Aug.  13,  1861. 

WM.  A.  JOHNSON,  ESQ.  : 

Dear  Sir :  The  extreme  illness  of  a  member  of  my 
family  has  for  several  weeks  so  entirely  engrossed  my 
attention  as  to  leave  me  but  little  time  for  other  engage 
ments,  and  will  account  for  this  tardy  acknowledgment 
of  your  favor  of  8th  instant. 

I  had  noticed  in  the  city  papers  the  proceedings  of 
the  Democratic  Union  Convention  lately  assembled  at 
Columbus,  and  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  that  my 
name  had  been  used  in  connection  with  the  lieutenant- 
governorship  of  the  State.  I  deeply  regretted  that  I  had 
not  been  consulted  in  the  matter,  and  now  desire  to  say 
that  I  respectfully  decline  the  nomination.  . 

I  have  no  inclination  to  be  a  candidate  for  any  office. 
If  I  ever  cherished  ambition  for  such  distinction  I  have 
been  cured  of  it,  and  feel  entirely  reconciled  to  the  quiet 
and  retirement  of  private  life.  But  it  is  perhaps  due  to 
myself  to  say  that  if  this  were  not  the  case,  and  I  felt 
entirely  free  to  enter  again  the  field  of  political  conflict,  I 
could  not  consent  to  be  a  party  candidate  for  office  in  the 
present  condition  of  the  country.  Party  spirit,  in  my 
opinion,  has  done  more  than  anything  else  to  bring  about 
the  late  calamities  which  now  so  seriously  afflict  us,  and 
the  poison  which  has  induced  this  national  paralysis 
would  not  prove  an  efficient  remedy  in  the  restoration  of 
the  patient.  The  time  has  come  when  we  should  forget 
party,  throw  off  its  trammels  and  obligations  and  stand 
up  for  the  country,  its  union,  Constitution  and  laws. 

I  was  not,  as  you  know,  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  the  presidency,  neither  do  I  approve  of  all  the  acts  of 
his  administration.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  not 
the  proper  time  to  arraign  the  administration  for  these 
errors  of  policy,  and  that  it  is  neither  the  part  of  wisdom 
nor  patriotism  to  assail  the  government  when  the  enemy 
is  thundering  at  the  gates  of  the  capital.  Let  us  first 
settle  the  great  question  of  country  or  no  country,  govern 
ment  or  no  government,  Union  or  disunion ;  and  having 
accomplished  this  great  work  of  duty  and  patriotism,  we 
have  ample  time  to  inquire  into  the  alleged  delin- 


36  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

quencies  of  our  rulers,  and  if  we  find  them  wanting  in  the 
Jeffersonian  requirements  for  office,  let  them  be  con 
demned  by  a  verdict  of  the  people. 

I  certainly  owe  the  Republicans,  as  a  party,  no  debt 
of  political  obligation,  and  yet  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  the  administration  has  my  warmest  sympathy  in  its 
effort  to  put  down  this  rebellion,  and  I  am  in  favor  of 
doing  this  effectually  and  permanently — in  peace  if  we  can, 
in  war  if  we  must.  A  distinguished  member  of  Congress 
is  reported  to  have  said,  in  his  place  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  during  last  session,  that  he  was  for  peace 
— peace  before  the  Union.  I,  too,  am  for  peace,  but  I  am 
for  the  Union  before  peace,  for  I  know  without  union  we 
can  have  no  peace. 

In  repeating  my  determination  to  decline  the  nomina 
tion,  which,  as  the  organ  of  the  convention,  you  so  kindly 
tendered  me,  I  beg  to  assure  you  of  my  proper  appreci 
ation  of  this  mark  of  respect  and  confidence  on  the  part 
of  the  convention. 

Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  SCOTT  HARRISON. 

He  died  in  the  spring  of  1878,  loved  by  his 
neighbors  and  respected,  despite  his  financial 
misfortunes,  by  all  who  knew  him.  Benjamin 
Harrison,  of  whom  we  are  writing,  was  his  second 
son,  Irwin  being  the  first. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT. 

IN  1787  the  Continental  Congress,  sitting  in 
New  York,  adopted  "  An  Ordinance  for  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States 
Northwest  of  the  Ohio."  This  was  .speedily  fol 
lowed  by  sales  of  public  lands,  notably  one  of 
five  millions  of  acres,  bordering  the  Ohio  river 
from  the  Muskingum  to  the  Scioto,  to  citizens 
of  New  England  organized^as  "The  Ohio  Com 
pany,"  and  another  of  two  millions  of  acres  in 
the  region  between  the  Great  and  Little  Miami 
rivers,  including  the  site  of  Cincinnati. 

The  purchaser  of  the  latter  tract  was  John 
Cleves  Symmes,  of  New  Jersey,  concerning  whom 
there  are  some  particulars  of  interest. 

He  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Timothy  Symmes,  of 
Scituate,  Mass.,  a  graduate  of  Howard  College. 
At  one  time  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial 
Congress  and  was  active  in  framing  the  consti 
tution  of  his  State  in  1776.  A  year  later  he  be 
came  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Still  retain 
ing  his  position  as  such  justice,  in  1784  and  1785 
he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress  at 
Philadelphia.  Following  that  he  was  appointed 

(37) 


38  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

judge  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  and  moved 
to  Ohio.  He  had  for  companions  in  his  emigra 
tion  Jonathan  Dayton,  Elias  Boudinot,  Dr.  Clark- 
son  and  others  of  New  Jersey. 

The  tract  constituting  what  is  known  as  "  Sym- 
mes'  Purchase"  comprised  the  present  cities  of 
Cincinnati  and  Dayton.  It  embraced  Hamilton, 
Butler,  Preble  and  Montgomery  counties,  and 
possibly  Warren.  Along  the  Ohio  river  it  ex 
tended  from  the  Little  Miami,  about  twenty  miles 
above  Cincinnati,  to  the  Big  Miami,  about  the 
same  distance  below  that  city.  All  the  titles  for 
fractions  of  the  tract  proceeded  from  him. 

Judge  Symmes  established  his  residence  at 
North  Bend,  and  there  laid  out  a  city,  intending 
to  make  it  the  great  commercial  emporium  of  the 
West.  Unfortunately  for  his  idea,  Cincinnati  be 
came  a  military  post,  the  protection  of  which  was 
anxiously  sought  by  settlers.  Symmes'  city  sank 
into  comparative  insignificance.  Two  of  the  three 
hewn  log-houses  which  the  Judge  erected  as  the 
nucleus  of  his  emporium  were  destroyed  by  fire. 
The  incendiary  is  reported  to  have  been  a  po 
litical  enemy. 

The  ruins  of  the  stone  chimneys  of  the  cabins 
are  yet  discernible.  To-day  North  Bend  is  chiefly 
known  as  having  been  the  residence  of  President 
William  Henry  Harrison. 

Judge  Symmes  had  for  his  first  wife  Anna  Tut- 
Jiill,  of  Southold,  Long  Island.  From  the  mar- 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT,  39 

riage  there  were  two  daughters,  Maria  and  Anna, 
of  whom  the  former  wedded  Peyton  Short,  of 
Kentucky,  and  the  latter  William  Henry  Harri 
son.  The  wooing  and  winning  of  the  younger 
sister  is  not  without  romantic  coloring. 

When  Fort  Washington  was  established  at 
Cincinnati  Harrison  was  stationed  there.  Duty 
called  the  gallant  captain  to  North  Bend,  and  he 
became  a  guest  at  the  Symmes  residence.  It  was 
not  long  until  he  succumbed  to  the  black  eyes  of 
Miss  Anna.  She  was  at  the  time  twenty  years  of 
age,  small,  graceful,  intelligent  and  by  general 
agreement  beautiful.  He  was  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  with  a  reputation  well  established  as  a 
gallant  soldier.  The  two  were  mutually  pleased 
with  each  other,  and  an  engagement  followed, 
which  could  hardly  fail  to  be  satisfactory  to  the 
father.  The  Judge,  in  fact,  consented  to  the  mar 
riage  ;  but,  hearing  some  slanderous  reports  of 
the  captain,  he  afterwards  withdrew  his  consent. 
The  lovers  were  in  nowise  daunted.  They  re 
solved  to  proceed  with  their  engagement.  Nor 
vember  29,  1 795,  the  day  appointed  for  the  wed 
ding,  arrived.  Judge  Symmes,  thinking  the  af 
fair  off  or  declining  to  be  present,  rode  to  Cin 
cinnati,  leaving  the  coast  clear. 

In  the  presence  of  the  young  lady's  step 
mother  and  many  guests  the  ceremony  was  per 
formed  by  Dr.  Stephen  Wood,  a  justice  of  the 
peace. 


4°  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Undoubtedly  the  father  of  the  bride  was  a  per 
son  of  great  importance  at  that  time.  He  was  a 
high  dignitary  of  the  United  States  government 
and  proprietor  of  a  tract  of  land  ducal  in  propor 
tions.  The  lady  was  beautiful,  young,  charming, 
of  Eastern  education  and  manners.  The  bride 
groom  on  his  side  had  fought  his  way  to  a  cap 
taincy,  which  was  a  much  more  influential  argu 
ment  in  that  day  than  this,  especially  in  social 
circles.  With  these  points  in  mind,  it  would  not 
be  strange  if  a  reader,  giving  rein  to  his  fancy, 
should  picture  the  wedding  as  of  exceeding  splen 
dor  of  circumstance.  It  was  the  very  reverse. 
To  arrive  at  the  facts  the  time  and  the  conditions 
of  the  people  of  the  region  must  be  considered. 
The  West  was  in  its  densest  wildness.  There  were 
no  luxuries.  To  be  comfortable  was  to  be  rich. 
There  was  no  aristocracy.  Store  goods  were  scarce 
and  at  prices  out  of  reach.  Weeks  of  travel  were 
required  to  get  to  and  from  the  mills.  For  summer 
wear  the  settlers  depended  in  great  part  upon  the 
fibre  of  thistle,  a  certain  species  of  which,  growing 
spontaneously  in  the  woods,  fell  down  and  rotted 
in  the  winter,  and  was  gathered  in  the  spring  and 
cleaned  and  woven  by  the  women.  Indeed,  the 
probabilities  are  that  the  company  assembled  to 
witness  the  marriage  of  Captain  Harrison  and 
Miss  Anna  Symmes  would  astonish  polite  circles 
of  to-day.  They  arrived  on  horseback,  each  man 
carrying  a  rifle,  a  powder-horn  and  a  pouch  lined 


CHILD,    BOY    AN  I-    STUDENT.  4! 

with  patching  and  bullets.     Travelling  by  isas  row 
paths    cut    through    thickets    of    blackberry   and 
alder  bushes  and  undergrowth  of  every  variety, 
every  step  taken  might  be  into  an  ambush  of  In 
dians.     They  moved  in   the  mood  and  ready  for 
instant  combat.     A  wife,   coming  with   her  hus 
band,  rode  behind  him.     When   they  dismounted 
at  the  door,  as  it  was  winter,  ten  to  one  he  wore 
buckskin  for  coat  and  breeches,  and  a  coonskin 
cap,  while  she  was  gay  with  plaidecl  linsey-wool 
sey   of  'her   own   weaving,    cutting    and    sewing. 
Her  head  was  protected  from  the  wind  by  a  cot 
ton    handkerchief.       Coarse    shoes    supplied  the 
place    of   slippers.     The    wedding    cake  was  of 
New  England  doughnuts.    On  the  sideboard  there 
were  jugs  of  cider,  very  hard  at  that,  and  whis 
key  none  the  worse  of  its  home  brewing,  and  they 
were  there  to  be  drank.     The  dancing,  with  which 
the  fete  was  most  likely  rounded  off  in  the  even 
ing,   was   to   a  fiddle   in   the   hand  of  a  colored 
artist  who  knew  the  plantation  jigs  as  a  mocking 
bird  knows  his  whistle.     The  pigeon-wing  with 
which   the   best  dancer   celebrated  the  "balance 
all"  was   cut  with   feet   yellow  with   moccasins. 
Such  was  in  probability  the  general  ensemble  of 
the  wedding 

The  bride  may  have  had  an  outfit  of  better 
material.  So  recently  from  the  East,  she  may 
have  had  a  veil,  a  silk  frock  and  French  slippers. 
The  bridegroom,  of  course,  wore  his  captain's 


42  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

uniform,  glittering  with  bullet-buttons  of  bur 
nished  brass,  and  high  boots  becoming  an  aide  in 
favor  with  his  chief,  the  redoubtable  Anthony 
Wayne,  whom  the  Indians  were  accustomed  to 
describe  as  "  the  warrior  who  never  slept."  Taken 
altogether,  the  wedding  celebrated  at  Judge 
Symmes'  house  that  November  day,  1795,  cannot 
be  cited  in  proof  of  a  charge  of  aristocratic  preten 
sion  on  the  part  of  the  high  contracting  parties. 

Some  time  afterwards  Judge  Symmes  met  his 
son-in-law.  The  occasion  was  a  dinner-party 
given  by  General  Wilkinson  to  General  Wayne. 

"  Well,  sir/'  the  judge  said,  in  bad  humor,  "  I 
understand  you  have  married  Anna." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  Harrison  answered. 

"  How  do  you  expect  to  support  her  ?  " 

"  By  my  sword  and  my  own  right  arm,"  was 
the  reply. 

The  judge  was  pleased,  became  reconciled,  and 
in  true  romantic  form  happily  concluded  the  affair 
by  giving  the  couple  his  blessing. 

The  young  husband  carried  his  wife  to  Cincin 
nati  without  delay,  and  they  remained  there  m 
quarters  until  the  reconciliation  with  the  father 
took  place ;  after  which,  it  is  reasonable  to  sup 
pose,  they  were  frequent  visitors  at  North  Bend. 

The  demands  for  the  captain's  professional  ser 
vices  were  frequent  and  pressing.  He  had  not 
long  to  enjoy  his  new  situation  and  its  delights, 
but  betook  himself  speedily  to  the  wars. 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  43 

Previous  to  his  departure,  however,  he  built  a 
house  to  shelter  his  fair  partner.  Part  of  it  is  yet 
standing  in  close  proximity  to  the  site  of  Fort 
Washington.  The  interior  is  of  black  walnut. 
Building  material  must  have  been  scarce  when 
the  structure  was  begun,  as  the  nails  were  of 
iron  wrought  doubtless  on  the  forge  of  the  post 
blacksmiths.  There  John  Scott  Harrison,  the 
third  son  of  the  Father  of  the  Northwest,  was 
born. 

Eventually,  however,  General  William  Henry 
Harrison  took  residence  at  North  Bencl.  The 
old  homestead,  the  same  that  in  later  years  be 
came  an  object  of  visitation  by  armies  of  pilgrims, 
is  said  to  have  been  built  by  him  in  1814  or 
thereabouts.  Whatever  the  elate  may  be,  it  is 
certain  that  North  Bend  was  the  scene  of  the 
passage  of  a  great  part  of  Mrs.  Harrison's  life 
— a  good  woman,"  admired  in  her  youth  and 
lovely  and  beloved  to  her  latest  day.  There  a 
family  was  reared  unto  her,  and  of  that  family 
we  will  now  speak. 

In  time  the  home  circle  came  to  consist  of  Wil 
liam  Symmes,  Benjamin  and  John  Scott  Harrison; 
Anna,  who  married  Colonel  Taylor ;  Betsey,  who 
married  Mr.  Short;  Maria,  who  married  Mr. 
Thornton;  Lucy,  who  married  Mr.  Estey,  and 
Mary  and  Carter,  nine  in  all. 

We  have  seen  the  occupations  which  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  father  through  many  years. 


44  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

They  were  mixed,  civil  and  military,  all  heavy 
with  responsibility  and  demanding  exclusive  at 
tention.  If  they  were  honorable,  they  were  also 
vexatious,  and  of  a  nature  requiring1  absence 
from  home,  much  of  the  time  in  the  saddle  on 
distant  expeditions.  No  doubt  he  would  have 
been  more  happy  could  he  have  fixed  his  head 
quarters  at  North  Bend,  but  we  hear  of  him  at 
Vincennes  and  here  and  there,  now  on  the  shores 
of  the  lakes,  but  most  frequently  in  a  tent  pitched 
in  the  woods,  the  centre  of  constant  coming  and 
going  of  subordinate  officials.  Subjects  of  the 
gravest  character  demanded  his  best  thought ; 
pertinent  sometimes  to  affairs  of  government,  the 
founding  of  settlements,  plans  of  campaign,  and 
the  settlement  of  disputes  brought  to  him  on 
final  appeal.  To  him  fell  the  duty  of  the  original 
subdivision  of  Indiana  into  townships  and  coun 
ties  and  the  protection  of  the  adventurous  settlers 
from  the  ever-watchful  and  merciless  Indian. 

It  is  not  saying  too  much  that  the  care  of  the 
growing  family  devolved  almost  entirely,  through 
out  their  infancy,  upon  the  mother.  And  later 
she  was  required  to  attend  to  their  education,  the 
means  for  which  were,  in  that  day,  sadly  wanting. 
Yet  the  highest  evidence  of  her  efficiency  as  a 
helpmeet  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  chil 
dren  all  became  respectable  men  and  women  and 
to  the  latest  day  held  her  in  the  highest  venera 
tion- 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  45 

it  is  the  general  opinion  that  William  Henry 
Harrison  was  rich,  but  the  opinion  is  not  founded 
in  fact.     With  great  care  for  his  personal  honor 
he  seems,  throughout  his  life,  to  have  scrupulously 
avoided   speculation.     The  salaries  he  received 
were  not  commensurable  with  the   dignities   he 
came  to.    The  demands  upon  him  from  his  family 
and  his  associations  generally  made  it  impossible 
for  him  to  accumulate  money.     At  the  time  of  his 
election  to  the  Presidency  he  was  poor  ;  his  entire 
property  consisted  of  the  farm  at   North  Bend. 
When  out  of  office  he  was  occupied  exclusively 
as  a  farmer,  and  must  be  thought  of,  not  as  a  gen 
tleman    addicted    to    broadcloth   clothes    of    the 
latest  style,  nor  as  a  martial  figure  going  about 
uniformed  and  sworded  and  in  a  cocked  hat.     In 
that  respect  his  habits  were  unlike  Washington's. 
The  plantation  at  North  Bend  had  not  in  any  de 
gree  the  baronial  likeness  of  the   plantation  at 
Mount  Vernon   on    the  banks   of  the   Potomac. 
The  western  proprietor  had  not  a  retinue  of  slaves 
subject  to  his  call.     He  never  travelled  to  and 
from  the   city  in  state,  a  liveried  rider  upon  the 
near  horse  and  a  footman  perched  upon  the  car 
riage  of  state.     He  was  a  farmer  in  fact  who  took 
part  in  his  own  plowing,  planting  and  reaping; 
altogether   the   most  unaristocratic  of  men,  his 
children  were  reared  accordingly. 

The   third    son  was   John   Scott   Harrison,  in 
whom  the  greater  interest  now  centres  because 


46  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

he  was  the  father  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  our  im 
mediate  subject  of  biography.  John  Scott  Har 
rison,  upon  coming  of  age,  settled  down  a  farmer 
like  his  father,  by  whom  he  had  set  apart  to  him 
a  portion  of  the  North  Bend  property.  His 
house,  as  has  been  observed,  was  a  plain  struc 
ture,  similar  to  those  dotting  the  imperfect  farms 
of  the  day.  The  farm  itself  had  to  be  created, 
and  was  situated  just  five  miles  below  North 
Bend  on  the  Ohio  river  at  its  intersection  with 
the  Big  Miami.  Its  western  boundary  was  the 
Indiana  and  Ohio  line.  He  was  twice  married. 
He  had  by  his  first  wife  three  children,  two 
daughters,  Betsey  and  Sarah,  who  are  still  living, 
the  former  as  the  widow  of  Dr.  Eaton,  now  resi 
dent  on  a  part  of  the  old  homestead  at  North 
Bend,  the  latter  Mrs.  Devin,  also  of  Ohio.  His 
second  wife  was  a  Miss  Elizabeth  Irwin,  daughter 
of  Archibald  Irwin,  of  Mercersburg,  Franklin 
county,  Pennsylvania.  By  her  he  had  Archibald 
Irwin ;  Benjamin ;  Jennie,  who  married  Mr.  Morris ; 
Carter  Bassett,  who  is  still  living,  and  has  the 
distinction  of  having  been  during  the  late  war  a 
Captain  in  the  Fifty-first  Ohio  (Stanley  Matthews') 
regiment.  He  also  served  a  good  part  of  the 
time  on  the  division  staff  of  Gen.  Vancleave.  At 
present  he  resides  in  Murfreesboro,  Term.,  having 
married  in  the  South.  Besides  those  named,  John 
Scott  Harrison  had  two  other  children :  John 
Scott,  living  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Anna,  at 
present  of  Indianapolis,  married  to  Mr.  Morris, 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  47 

The  reader  may  arrive  at  the  manner  of  bring 
ing  up  this  family  had  by  observing  the  particulars 
of  the  childhood  and  youth  of  Benjamin  Harrison, 
the  second  of  the  sons. 

Continuing  the  sketch  of  John  Scott  Harrison, 
it  may  be  remarked  that  he  lived  and  died  upon 
his  farm,  having  been  an  agriculturalist  all  his 
life.  In  his  earlier  days  he  took  care  of  his  own 
little  plantation  and  aided  his  father  in  the  gen* 
eral  management  of  the  homestead.  He  varied 
the  occupation  by  boating  to  New  Orleans, 
whither  he  went  almost  every  year  with  a  cargo 
of  produce  of  his  own  raising.  Having  become 
involved  in  debt,  largely  through  ill-advised 
endorsements,  he  left  no  property.  Years  prior 
to  his  death  his  farm  passed  from  him  into  the 
ownership  of  the  heirs  of  Judge  Short,  who  has 
been  mentioned  as  the  husband  of  Betsey  Harri 
son.  Through  their  kindness,  and  out  of  great 
respect,  he  was  permitted  to  continue  in  its  occu 
pancy.  He  left  no  estate  whatever. 

It  will  perhaps  please  the  reader  to  be  assured 
that  from  this  point  forward  he  will  be  given 
nothing  that  is  not  directly  concerned  with  the 
gentleman  to  whom  the  volume  is  in  title  and 
fact  devoted. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  the  second  son  of  John 
Scott  Harrison,  was  born  at  North  Bend  in  his 
grandfather's  house  on  the  2Oth  day  of  August, 
1833 — nearly  fifty-five  years  ago. 


48  BENJAMIN    liAl  KISON. 

There  is  nothing  more  surprising  in  the  lives 
of  Americans  than  the  similarity  of  their  child 
hood  and  youth.  Their  sports  are  the  same ; 
they  go  through  the  same  trains  of  petty  adven 
ture  ;  at  length  a  period  arrives  at  which  they  are 
sent  to  school ;  there  a  new-comer  very  nearly 
takes  up  a  book  left  behind  by  a  predecessor,  is 
subjected  to  the  same  recitation,  and  whirled  with 
astonishing  rapidity  along  a  course  of  study 
which,  after  all,  is  little  more  than  a  deeply  worn 
rut.  This  may  perhaps  be  a  necessity  ;  it  certainly 
is  monotonous.  There  are  even  teachers  of  experi 
ence  and  excellent  judgment  who  have  been  heard 
to  express  a  wish  that  they  might  live  to  see 
the  results  of  experiments  in  education  out  of  the 
common.  There  is  no  hack  so  worn  and  weary 
as  a  master  or  mistress  of  a  public  school,  unless 
it  be  a  college  professor.  That  a  lad  ever  rises 
above  the  dead  level  is  attributable  purely  to  a 
superiority  of  intellect.  In  the  light  of  this  re 
mark  and  its  context,  together  with  his  admitted 
success  in  life,  it  is  worth  while  to  make  a  study 
of  the  youth  and  school-days  of  the  Republican 
candidate  for  the  Presidency. 

Extending  southward  from  the  old  Harrison 
homestead  at  North  Bend  there  is  a  tongue  of 
land,  quite  five  miles  in  length ;  its  lower  ex 
tremity  touches  the  Indiana  boundary  line ;  the 
north  side  is  swept  by  the  Miami  river;  upon 
the  south  side  the  Ohio  rolls  its  placid  stream. 


BOY   AND   STUDENT.  49 

On  this  promontory,  or  backbone,  as  some  might 
be  pleased  to  call  it,  is  what  was  the  farm  of  John 
Scott  Harrison.  It  answered  to  cultivation  gen 
erously  ;  corn  grew  there  in  abundance.  The 
wheat  was  good.  It  furnished  the  family  all  the 
staples  of  life.  Seldom,  if  ever,  had  they  to  go 
out  to  market.  From  it  the  cellar  was  well  sup 
plied.  The  cattle  and  horses  that  ranged  it  were 
always  fat  and  sleek.  The  proprietor  was,  in 
fact,  a  good  farmer.  Pie  might  have  been  nothing 
else  out  of  the  ordinary,  but  that  he  was  in  fair 
degree.  He  gave  himself  to  the  occupation  pa 
tiently  and  successfully,  at  least  so  far  as  the  bless 
ing  of  plenty  to  eat  and  wear  is  concerned.  The 
poverty  that  overtook  him  in  his  later  days  was 
a  consequence  of  his  generosity  and  a  judgment 
too  easily  cheated  by  people  who  wormed  their 
way  into  his  confidence.  He  put  on  no  style.  If 
his  disposition  had  tended  that  way,  he  had  not 
the  means  to  indulge  it.  One  thing  he  was  de 
termined  upon :  whatever  else  happened,  he 
would  educate  his  children.  His  residence  fronted 
the  Ohio  river :  between  the  river  and  the  door 
was  a  small,  plain,  old-fashioned  log-school-house. 
On  account  of  the  distance  to  any  other  schools, 
it  was  impossible  that  his  boys  could  attend  them. 
Very  early  in  the  life  of  Benjamin  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  employing  private  teachers.  Their  sal 
aries  were  light,  as  they  were  called  upon  only  to 
impart  the  simplest  elementary  instruction.  Hie 


50 


HARRISON. 


nephews  very  often  were  accommodated  in  his 
house  and  placed  under  instruction  together  with 
his  own  children.  Boys  of  his  nearest  neighbors 
were  also  attendants  there.  The  teachers  were 
sometimes  men,  sometimes  women ;  and  they  were 
not  employed  all  the  year  round,  but  generally  in 
the  winter. 

The  cabin  was,  as  is  usual  with  such  buildings, 
of  the  very  plainest.  The  floor  was  of  puncheon, 
the  windows  few  and  small.  In  one  end  was  a 
great  fire-place,  habitually  filled  with  logs  in  the 
morning  to  burn  all  day.  The  benches  were  slabs 
raised  above  the  floor  by  sticks  fitted  in  through 
auger  holes.  They  were  without  backs,  and  the 
little  fellows,  through  the  hours  of  session,  dropped 
their  legs  without  touching  the  floor  with  their 
feet.  Altogether  it  was  weary  employment  for 
them.  But,  as  their  studies  were  spelling,  reading 
and  writing,  they  were  not  put  to  much  mental 
effort.  At  recess  they  ran  wild,  and  made  up 
for  lost  time  at  play.  In  that  humble  structure 
Benjamin  began  his  education. 

In  seasons  when  the  crops  were  being  planted 
and  harvested  he  was,  as  a  farmer's  boy,  given  to 
employment  suitable  to  his  years.  He  fed  the 
cattle;  he  did  the  milking,  though  he  has  since 
confessed  that  at  this  latter  labor  he  was  never  a 
success.  There  his  isolation  from  the  world  was 
complete.  Visitors  from  the  city  came  in  flocks, 
always  stopping  at  the  old  mansion  above.  Sel- 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  ^  I 

,  if  ever,  did  they  extend  their  journey  to  the 
farm  on  the  peninsula.  His  own  visitations  to 
his  grandmother's  were  frequent,  for  he  was 
always  a  favorite  with  the  old  lady.  She  made 
much  of  him,  and  many  times,  upon  his  setting 
out  homeward  on  the  horse  or  the  wagon,  she 
came  to  the  gate  and  in  giving  him  a  parting  kiss 
slipped  a  piece  of  money  in  his  hand,  of  which  he 
was  duly  proud.  In  later  years,  when  he  came  to 
understand  that  she  herself  was  not.  over-blessed 
with  riches,  he  appreciated  the  mark  of  affection 
all  the  more.  At  such  times  he  had  opportunities 
to  see  strangers.  In  most  instances  they  were 
objects  of  wonder  to  him. 

Of  Sundays,  with  his  father  and  mother  and  all 
the  family,  he  attended  church  at  North  Bend.. 
As  it  had  been  a  custom  of  the  first  General  Har 
rison  when  at  home  to  make  tender  of  hospitality 
to  the  congregation,  after  his  death  the  custom 
was  perpetuated  by  the  widow.  The  board  at 
which  the  guests  found  themselves  upon  such 
occasions  was  broad  and  profusely  covered.  Not 
seldom  there  were  plates  for  fifty  or  more.  If 
there  were  not  three  kinds  of  meat  for  the  com 
pany,  the  aged  hostess  was  unhappy.  It  is  to  be 
remarked,  however,  that  everything  constituting 
the  menu  was  produced  on  the  farm. 

It  should  not  be  supposed  that  the  attendance 
at  school  and  work  upon  the  farm  were  unmixed 
with  pastime.  The  rivers  flowing  close  by  were 


52  fcfcNJAMIN    liARRlSON. 

well  stocked  in  that  day  with  fish.  There  were 
squirrels  in  the  woods ;  in  their  season  ducks 
were  plenteous  ;  and  in  the  pursuit  of  such  game 
young  Harrison  became  an  expert  shot,  partic 
ularly  with  the  rifle.  Very  frequently  he  assisted 
the  negro  who  served  the  household  in  the  capa 
city  of  cook,  carried  wood  and  water  for  him,  and 
helped  him  wash  the  dishes,  that  he  might  the 
better  secure  his  company  in  a  bout  at  fishing  or 
hunting. 

By-ancl-by  the  little  old  cabin  described  as  a 
school-house  gave  out,  and  study  was  transferred 
to  a  room  in  the  father's  house.  Amongst  the 
teachers  at  whose  feet  he  sought  instruction  he 
remembers  one  Thomas  Flynn,  who  initiated  him 
into  the  mysteries  of  A,  B,  C.  He  cannot  recall 
a  thrashing,  a  circumstance  somewhat  singular,  as 
in  that  day  the  rod  was  deemed  necessary  to  suc 
cessful  education.  Probably  he  might  have  met 
other  treatment,  if  he  had  attended  a  public  school. 
In  learning  to  read,  write  and  cipher  his  school 
periods  were  occupied  down  to  1847.  ^e  then 
began  Latin  and  a  course  preparatory  to  an 
academy.  Shortly  afterwards,  with  his  elder 
brother,  Irwin,  he  was  sent  to  a  school  back  a  few 
miles  from  Cincinnati,  on  what  was  called  College 
Hill. 

The  institution  had  recently  taken  on  a  more 
pretentious  character.  A  new  building  had  been 
put  up ;  and  whereas  it  had  flourished  under  the 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  53 

name  of  Carey's  Academy,  it  now  introduced 
itself  to  knowledge-seekers  in  the  West  as  Farm 
er's  College.  The  proprietor  and  principal  was 
Freeman  Carey,  brother  of  Mr.  Samuel  Carey, 
the  temperance  lecturer.  The  instructors,  some 
of  them,  were  of  great  reputation — among  them 
Dr.  Robert  H.  Bishop,  who  had  at  one  time  been 
President  of  Miami  University  and  before  that  a 
professor  in  Transylvania  College,  Kentucky.  He 
was  a  highly  educated,  learned  and  venerable 
Scotsman. 

Young  Harrison  was  a  student  at  Farmer's 
College  two  years.  He  applied  himself  to  Latin, 
Greek,  mathematics,  mental  philosophy,  and  the 
usual  academical  course  in  its  entirety.  He  lived 
plainly,  rooming  in  one  of  the  dormitories  of  the 
building.  While  closely  applying  himself  to 
study,  always  standing  fair  in  his  classes,  re 
spected  by  the  instructors  and  popular  with  his 
associates,  prompt  at  recitation  and  obedient  to 
rules,  nevertheless  he  found  time  for  amusement 
and  sport,  such  as  snow-balling,  town-ball,  bull 
pen,  shinny  and  baste,  all  more  familiar  to  lads  in 
that  day  than  this.  There  was  a  hill  in  the  vicin 
ity  to  which  he  was  faithful  in  sledding  time. 
He  was  of  slight  physique,  slender  and  not  tall, 
even  girlish  in  appearance,  but  made  up  the  de 
ficiencies,  if  such  they  may  be  called,  by  spirit, 
wit,  and  ready  knowledge  of  character,  which  en 
abled  him  to  take  his  own  part,  and  hold  rank  in 
the  estimation  of  his  playmates, 


54  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

At  the  end  of  the  two  years  at  Farmer's  Col 
lege  he  was  transferred  to  Miami  University,  at 
Oxford,  Ohio,  for  which  he  was  admirably  pre 
pared. 

It  is  the  custom  with  those  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  tracing  the  distinction  a  man  acquires  in 
after  life  to  dwell  upon  what  he  may  have  read  in 
his  youth.  Some  have  carried  their  opinions  in 
that  matter  so  far  as  to  affirm  that  books  favorite 
in  the  beginning  give  bent  to  the  tastes  and  even 
decide  the  calling  that  may  be  chosen.  They  fancy 
that  poets  in  that  way  discover  themselves.  Law 
yers,  divines,  politicians,  and  scientists  are  referable 
to  the  same  influences.  Hence,  it  has  been  for  a 
long  time  the  fashion  of  biographers  to  furnish 
lists  of  the  books  which  were  delightful  to  the 
boy. 

Allowing  the  inquiry,  we  find  in  his  very  early 
years  young  Harrison  was  admitted  to  a  limited 
library.  His  father  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
a  great  reader  himself.  Severely  occupied  by 
attention  to  his  farm,  John  Scott  Harrison  was 
perhaps  more  careless  and  indifferent  in  this  re- 
spect  than  he  imagined.  Amongst  the  books, 
however,  at  call  of  the  children,  there  was  notably 
an  edition  of  Scott's  novels.  The  son  Benjamin 
can  scarcely  remember  the  time  that  he  was  not 
enthralled  by  Waverley,  the  Scottish  tales,  and  the 
eastern  romances.  He  pored  over  them  dili 
gently,  Jyanhoe  and  the  Talisman  were  sources, 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  55 

of  infinite  fascination  to  him.  In  them  his  imagi 
nation  found  the  greatest  satisfaction.  And  un 
consciously  he  laid  away  a  store  of  English  and 
Scotch  history  from  Kenilworth  and  other  tales 
of  that  class  infinitely  serviceable  in  his  succeeding 
years.  He  has  since  drank  deeply  from  Dickens, 
Thackeray  and  all  the  modern  classicists,  but 
Walter  Scott  still  holds  dominion  over  his  tastes. 
He  speaks  enthusiastically  of  him  yet,  and  says 
he  went  through  his  volumes  from  beginning  to 
end,  and  over  and  over  again. 

In  his  boyish  days  an  uncle  presented  him  with 
a  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  and  about  the  same  time, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  his  mother,  he  de 
voured  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

In  the  society  library  at  Farmer's  College  he 
found  the  works  of  Washington  Irving,  and  they 
too  became  his  admiration  and  delight.  Occa 
sionally  he  read  Cooper's  stories.  In  the  purely 
historical  line,  Hume  and  Gibbon  received  the 
greatest  attention  from  him.  So  that  when,  at 
the  end  of  two  years  in  Farmer's  College,  he  was 
transferred  to  Miami  University,  he  was  so  well 
advanced  in  study  and  general  information  as  to 
at  once  enter  a  Junior  in  the  latter  institution. 

Miami  University  had  been  provided  for  by 
the  General  Government  by  reservation  in  the 
grant  of  land  to  John  Cleves  Symmes  and  his 
associates.  It  was  consequently  one  of  the 
earliest,  and  for  a  long  time  decidedly  the  leading 


56  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

institution  west  of  the  Alleghenies.  When  young 
Harrison  was  received  in  its  walls  it  had  derived 
not  a  little  fame  from  presidents  such  as  Dr.  Mc- 
Masters  and  Dr.  Bishop.  In  the  professorial 
roll  are  the  names  of  Dr.  McGuffy  and  Dr.  John 
W.  Scott,  with  the  latter  of  whom  we  shall  pres 
ently  acquaint  ourselves  as  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Harrison.  The  executive  of  the  institution  when 
the  subject  of  our  biography  became  one  of  its 
students  was  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Anderson,  D.  D., 
under  whose  administration  its  affairs  were  in  an 
unusually  flourishing  condition.  Aside  from  the 
large  patronage  received  from  the  Northwest,  it 
found  favor  in  the  South,  there  being  many  youths 
on  its  roster  from  the  slave  or  Southern  States. 
Miami  University  was  not  strictly  denomina 
tional  ;  nevertheless  it  had  been  presided  over 
almost  from  the  beginning  by  men  connected 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church — sons  of  Presby 
terians  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Churches,  as 
they  were  called,  and  among  them  Covenanters  or 
United  Presbyterians.  In  deference  to  their 
ideas,  the  psalms  in  the  morning  exercises  were 
always  sung  out  of  Rouse's  collection. 

Young  Harrison  attached  himself  immediately 
upon  arrival  to  the  Miami  Union  Literary  Society, 
and  became  foremost  in  the  debates  which,  as 
usual  with  such  societies,  formed  part  of  the  or 
dinary  exercises.  In  that  line  he  early  distin 
guished  himself,  and  conscious  of  his  strength 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  57 

he  preferred  speaking  to  composition.  To  the 
latter  he  indeed  failed  to  give  the  attention  it  de 
served. 

To  this  day  he  prefers  impromptu  oratorical 
effort  to  writing,  which  is  still  distasteful  drudgery 
to  him.  A  little  further  on  the  reader  will  have 
opportunity  to  decide  for  himself  how  well  founded 
the  preference  may  be. 

Returning  a  moment  to  his  home-life  on  the 
farm,  it  is  pleasant  to  remark  that  his  mother  was 
a  most  devout  Christian  woman  of  remarkable 
sweetness  of  temper,  and  her  spirit  pervaded  the 
house.  The  dining-room,  which  was  the  com 
mon  sitting-room,  was  large  and  commodious, 
with  the  usual  wide  open  fireplace.  In  evenings, 
especially  of  the  winter,  the  family  assembled  in 
it  around  a  central-table.  The  flames  in  the  fire 
place  burned  brightly,  dispensing  light  in  aid  of 
the  tallow-clips  on  the  table,  beside  which  were 
the  old-fashioned  brazen  snuffers  ready  in  the 
polished  tray  for  instant  use.  The  dips  men 
tioned  were  not  the  store  article  but  home-made. 
In  fact  young  Harrison  helped  make  them,  and 
became  an  expert  in  the  business. 

In  front  of  t«he  fire-place  the  mother  took  seat 
with  her  knitting;  and  while  listening  to  the  con 
versation  or  the  reading  that  went  on  amongst 
the  younger  folks,  reeled  off  her  needles  the 
socks  with  which  the  boys  could  encounter  the 
snows  without.  In  their  most  animated  moments 


58  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

those  around  were  always  regardful  of  her  pres 
ence  ;  respect  for  her  tempered  their  voices  and 
forbade  passion  in  dispute.  She  was  a  Presby 
terian,  and  one  of  Benjamin's  earliest  recollec 
tions,  that  to  which  at  this  late  day  he  refers  with 
profoundest  reverence  of  feeling,  is  the  habit  she 
persisted  in  to  her  death  of  rising  when  the  hour 
of  retirement  came,  folding  up  her  work,  whatever 
it  might  be,  saying  "  Good-night "  and  going  aside 
for  prayer.  The  practice  was  a  mystery  to  him 
then,  as  was  the  prayer  she  silently  made.  He 
did  not  understand  what  it  meant ;  and  for  that 
reason  possibly  the  impression  it  made  upon  him 
has  been  more  lasting.  It  certainly  was  not  with 
out  influence.  For  we  find  that  while  he  was  a 
student  in  the  University  he  became  himself  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  is  now  a 
Presbyterian.  He  is  also  a  man  of  prayer. 

Young  Harrison,  in  this  interval  of  college  toil, 
must  not  be  thought  of  as  coldly  indifferent  to 
attractions  outside  study.  The  mind  that  admits 
fondness  of  Walter  Scott  must  also  have  an  ele^ 
ment  of  romance  more  or  less  defiant  of  control. 
Its  possessor,  if  a  student,  will  give  time  to  dreams 
wholly  irrelevant  to  the  book  which  is  the  neces 
sity  of  the  next  recitation.  There  are  the  visions 
of  the  old  man,  and  the  visions  of  the  youth ;  the 
former  have  hold  upon  the  past,  the  latter  are  all 
of  the  future,  and  that  is  the  difference  between 
them.  The  surest  sign  of  the  approach  of  man- 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  59 

hood  is  the  intervention,  constantly  and  oddly,  of 
the  question,  what  am  I  to  be  ?  asked  of  the  pur 
suit  in  which  the  dreamer  .is  to  look  for  bread 
and  the  glory  in  waiting  for  him.  And  if  he  be 
bright,  brave  and  gentle  withal,  ten  to  one  it  will 
be  found  that  the  inspiration  of  the  question  is  a 
face  fairer  in  his  thought  than  any  other  face. 

It  happened  that  in  the  town  overlooked  by 
Miami  University  there  was  an  academy  for 
young  ladies  of  which  Dr.  John  W.  Scott  was 
manager  and  president.  The  fair  students  were 
a  sparkling  feature  of  the  society  of  the  village, 
and  young  Harrison  was  not  so  ascetically  devoted 
to  the  Union  Literary  and  making  good  the 
favoritism  shown  him  as  an  orator  on  occasions 
as  to  be  blind  to  the  sex.  Far  from  that,  he  was 
notoriously  diligent  in  seeking  partners  for  con' 
certs,  lectures,  picnics  and  parties. 

It  also  happened  that  President  Scott  had  a 
daughter,  girlish,  intelligent,  witty,  attractive,  in 
whom  the  young  man  quickly  discovered  all  the 
qualities  that  entered  into  the  composition  of  his 
ideal  of  a  perfect  woman.  Suddenly  he  gave  up 
attentions  to  the  gentle  patrons  of  the  academy 
in  general,  and  became  more  a  slave  to  his  books 
than  ever.  For  a  season  there  was  much  wonder 
over  the  change  ;  at  length  it  was  explained — he 
was  engaged  to  marry  Miss  Caroline  W.  Scott, 
the  president's  daughter.  The  contract  argues 
great  courage  and  confidence  in  his  future  when 


60        .  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

it  is  remembered  that  he  was  poor  and  just  out 
of  the  junior  class,  and  but  eighteen  years  of  age. 

It  may  be  well  supposed  that  the  engagement 
referred  to,  while  operating  as  an  incentive  to 
work,  had  also  the  effect  to  lengthen  each  college 
day,  making  him  impatient  for  the  end  which  the 
collegiate  calendar  set  down  for  the  24th  of  June, 
1852. 

The  graduating  class  that  year  consisted  of 
sixteen  young  men,  the  names  of  some  of  whom 
have  since  become  of  national  familiarity.  To 
see  yet  more  clearly  the  competition  which  young 
Harrison  found  in  his  classes  and  literary  society, 
the  reader  may  not  be  displeased  if  their  names 
are  given  entire.  The  following  is  the  list : 

John  S.  Baker,  lawyer,  Cincinnati,  O. 

John  P.  Craighead,  lawyer,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

Isaac  S.  Lane,  lawyer,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Lewis  W.  Ross,  lawyer,  Council  Bluffs,  la.* 

*  The  following  is  from  Mr.  Lewis  W.  Ross,  now  of  Council  Bluffs, 

Iowa : 

BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Forty  years  ago  the  writer  met  the  subject  of  this  paper  in  Farmer's 
College,  a  school  of  considerable  merit,  located  on  one  of  the  hills  over 
looking  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  Dr.  R.  H.  Bishop,  formerly  President  of 
Miami  University,  was  Professor  of  History  and  Political  Economy.  He 
was  an  extraordinary  teacher.  He  discipled  his  students  to  such  an  ex 
tent  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  either  forget  the  man  or  his  instruction. 
I  also  met  Dr.  O.  W.  Nixon  of  the  Inter- Ocean,  Murat  Halstead  of  the 
Commercial- Gazette,  Joseph  M.  Gregory,  a  member  of  the  Memphis  Bar, 
and  many  others  who  have  attained  to  positions  of  honor  and  trust. 

After  two  years  of  study  at  Farmer's  College,  a  large  delegation,  includ 
ing  young  Harrison  and  the  writer,  entered  Miami  University,  located  at 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  6l 

Milton  Sayler,  lawyer,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Harmer  Denny,  minister  of  the  gospel. 


Oxford,  Ohio.  We  enrolled  in  the  junior  class,  with  at  least  half  of  the 
sophomore  year  to  make  up.  This  implied  that  we  were  required  to  do 
two  and  a  half  years'  work  within  the  space  of  two  years,  but  it  was  ac 
complished,  and  all  graduated — a  class  of  fifteen  members,  on  June  24, 
1852. 

This  class  varied  in  woildly  wealth  and  available  brains  about  as  other 
classes  have  done.  David  Swing,  of  Chicago,  took  second  honors,  and 
Milton  Saylor,  now  of  New  York  city,  took  the  first  honors.  Harrison, 
in  class  standing  and  merit,  ranked  above  the  average.  Swing  was  con 
fessedly  the  best  philologist  in  the  class,  and  during  the  last  year  of  the 
course  displayed  unusual  ability.  Saylor  was  gifted  in  many  ways,  but 
lacked  application.  He  has  lived  the  life  of  a  "  typical  Democrat," 
serving  two  terms  in  Congress.  Harrison,  as  I  remember,  was  an  unpre 
tentious  but  courageous  student.  He  was  respectable  in  languages  and 
the  sciences,  and  excelled  in  political  economy  and  history,  the  former 
being  largely  due  to  the  foundations  laid  under  the  instruction  of  Dr. 
Bishop  at  Farmer's  College.  Harrison  had  a  good  voice  and  a  pure  dic 
tion.  He  talked  easily  and  fluently.  His  manner  was  indicative  of  much 
earnestness  of  character.  He  never  seemed  to  regard  life  as  a  joke  nor 
the  opportunities  for  advancement  as  subjects  for  sport.  During  the  four 
years  that  I  was  with  him,  he  impressed  me  with  the  belief  that  he  was 
ambitious.  As  a  writer  and  speaker,  he  always  did  his  best.  By  this  I 
mean  that  he,  as  a  rule,  made  special  preparation,  giving  as  much  time  as 
possible  to  the  matter  in  hand.  The  subject  of  his  graduating  address 
was  "  The  Poor  of  England,"  and  his  treatment  of  it  showed  that  he  kad 
sounded  both  the  depths  and  the  causes  of  this  poverty.  He  was  a  pro 
tectionist  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  is  protectionist  still.  His  whole 
career  has  been  illustrative  of  his  desire  to  save  his  countrymen  from  the 
poverty  which  oppresses  "  The  Poor  of  England." 

It  is  claimed  by  his  enemies  that  Harrison  is  cold-hearted,  that  he  cul 
tivates  but  few  friends.  This  is  untrue.  When  a  student  he  had  his  likes 
and  dislikes.  He  was  not  selfish,  yet  his  love  of  self  made  him  careful 
of  his  time  and  of  his  reserve  powers.  Had  he  been  of  the  rollicking 
habit  of  some  of  his  college  acquaintances,  he  would  long  since  have 
passed  over  with  them.  The  sober  truth  is,  that  in  good  sense  and  manly 
conduct  he  was  as  a  student  without  just  reproach.  From  aught  that  has 
come  to  my  notice,  in  later  years,  I  infer  that  his  entire  career  has  been  a 
living  exemplification  of  the  principles  which  governed  his  student  life. 


62  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

James  A.  Hughes,  minister  of  Ae  gospel,  Som 
erville,  O. 

A.  C.  Junkin,  minister  of  the  gospel,  West 
Greenville,  Pa. 

S.  T.  Lowerie,  minister  of  the  gospel,  Pitts- 
burg,  Pa. 

David  Morrow,  minister  of  the  gospel,  Logans- 
port,  Ind. 

William  H.  Prestly,  minister  of  the  gospel, 
Chillicothe,  O. 

David  Swing,  minister  of  the  gospel,  Chicago, 
111. 

Joseph  Walker,  minister  of  the  gospel,  Mus- 
kingum,  O. 

J.  Knox  Boude,  M.  D.,  Carthage,  111. 

James  H.  Chilcls,  calling  not  known,  killed  at 
Antietam. 

To  have  become  conspicuous  in  such  a  class  is 
of  itself  a  high  encomium.  Young  Harrison 
took  fourth  honor,  which  was  certainly  we]l  done 
for  a  boy  of  but  eighteen. 

He  was  just  then.  He  is  just  now.  He  was  industrious  then.  He  is 
industrious  now.  He  was  ambitious  then.  He  is  ambitious  still.  Ilia 
was  and  is  a  commendable  ambition,  worthy  to  be  patterned  by  the  youth 
of  the  country.  When  in  college  he  gained  mental  discipline  and  a  gen 
uine  love  for  history  and  political  science.  When  in  Judge  Storer's  office 
he  read,  with  other  texts,  Coke  upon  Littleton,  and  so  laid  deep  and  solid 
legal  foundations.  Thus  furnished,  his  success  was  assured  before  enter 
ing  upon  the  duties  of  his  profession.  On  all  moral  questions  he  has 
been  fearless  for  the  right.  At  his  country's  call  he  answered,  proving 
his  devotion  and  courage.  Among  lawyers  of  national  reputation  he 
ranks  with  the  best.  Among  statesmen  he  is  accorded  a  high  place.  Pie 
is  worthy  of  the  cordial  support  of  Republicans  everywhere  for  the 
exalted  position  to  which  he  aspires. 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  63 

Speeches  were  part  of  the  commencement 
exercises  then,  as  now ;  and  in  gratification  of 
the  curiosity  to  know  something  of  the  boy's 
graduating  oration,  an  extract  is  submitted. 

After  a  compliment  of  poetic  turn  to  heroic 
England,  the  speaker  said : 

Turn,  now,  and  take  a  glance  at  modern  England, 
the  England  of  poor  laws  and  paupers.  How  fares  it 
with  the  descendants  of  those  noble  sires?  Do  they 
still  preserve  the  lofty  mien,  the  virtuous  courage,  the 
healthful  abundance  of  their  ancestors  ?  Can  it  be  that 
the  obsequious  pauper,  the  sturdy  beggar,  is  indeed  come 
of  so  proud  a  parentage  ?  Have  the  swelling  tides  en 
gulfed  this  manly  race  to  give  place  to  Eastern  slaves  ? 
By  what  process  of  degeneration,  by  what  system  of 
treachery,  by  what  catalogue  of  wrongs  has  this  sad 
change  been  effected?  How  has  the  individual  been 
robbed  of  his  energy,  the  social  circle  of  its  virtue  and 
purity  ?  The  common  answer  is  by  poor  laws. 

In  the  vastness  of  her  commercial  projects,  the  ex 
pansive  generosity  of  her  foreign  charity  and  the  ex 
tended  field  of  her  missionary  efforts,  the  starving  desti 
tution  of  eight  millions  of  her  own  subjects  is  too 
much  forgotten  and  overlooked.  Reversing  the  old 
maxim,  she  seems  to  think  that  charity  begins  abroad 
and  draws  freely  upon  the  public  exchequer  to  relieve  the 
miseries  of  the  West  India  slave,  while  thousands  more 
miserable  cry  in  vain  for  substantial  relief  from  the  filthy 
lanes  of  her  own  metropolis.  As  the  newspaper  giver  of 
the  present  day  bestows  liberally  to  endow  widows' 
homes  and  orphan  asylums  while  his  faithful  house-dog 
is  starving  in  his  kennel,  so  the  oil  and  wine  which  the 
British  Samaritan  poured  into  the  wounds  and  bruises  of 
the  West  Indian  slave  were  the  marrow  and  blood  of  his 
own  children 

Perhaps  the  whole  annals  of  legislative  history  does 
not  furnish  us  with  a  system  of  laws  so  fully  repudiated 


64  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

by  all  sound  economy  or  one  which  so  rudely  strikes  at 
the  foundation  of  all  social  prosperity  as  the  poor  laws 
of  Great  Britain.  Unwise  in  their  conception,  unhappy 
in  their  consequences,  they  are  the  shame  and  curse  of 
England. 

Disregarding  the  finer  and  fuller  provisions  of  nature 
for  the  relief  of  the  destitute  and  unfortunate,  they  sub 
stitute  instead  the  compulsory  provisions  of  a  legalized 
benevolence.  The  charitable  offering  is  snatched  from 
the  kind  hand  of  the  benevolent  giver,  cast  into  the 
swelling  poor  fund  and  distributed  by  the  cold  hand  of  a 
soulless  official  alike  to  the  vicious  and  deserving.  The 
donor  is  deprived  of  his  meed  of  praise,  the  recipient  is 
precluded  the  exercise  of  gratitude. 

But  not  only  do  such  provisions  fail  to  relieve  the 
wants  of  the  poor  by  sapping  the  life's  blood  of  indi 
vidual  energy  and  encouraging  indolence  and  consequent 
vice;  they  increased  the  evil  they  were  intended  to  allevi 
ate  and  supersede  the  more  efficacious  relief  of  individual 
charity.  The  ever  present  consciousness  that,  however 
great  his  improvidence  and  vice,  he  cannot  be  brought 
to  ultimate  want  removes  that  stimulus  to  industry  and 
economy  which  has  in  the  wise  providence  of  God  been 
provided  to  anticipate  the  evils  of  pauperism.  The  shame 
which  attaches  itself  to  the  trembling  praj^er  for  indi 
vidual  charities  is  lost  in  the  demand  upon  the  parish 

poor  fund Can  it  be  possible  that  this  is  indeed 

the  true  character  of  those  laws  which  her  wisest  states 
men  have  not  only  sustained  but  made  the  subject  of 
boastful  reflection  upon  other  lands  ?  As  well  might  the 
highway  robber,  after  having  stripped  the  defenseless 
traveller  of  all  that  he  possessed,  return  him  a  scanty 
covering  from  the  cold,  and  then  boast  of  kindness,  and 
call  upon  his  shivering  victim  to  acknowledge  a  debt  of 
gratitude. 

"  111  fares  the  land  to  hastening  ills  a  prey 
When  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay ; 
Princes  and  lords  may  flourish  or  may  fade, 
A  breath  can  make  them  and  a  breath  has  made, 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  supplied.  " 


CHILD,    BOY    AND    STUDENT.  65 

The  extract  is  honorable  to  the  speaker.  Ap 
preciation  of  the  sorrows  of  the  poor  is  seldom 
more  fervidly  expressed.  A  critic  will  forgive  the 
redundancy  of  adjectives,  remembering  that  it  is 
a  disease  of  young  students  soon  cured.  He  will 
not  fail  also  to  be  struck  with  the  direction  of  the 
argument,  while  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
side  taken.  Those  familiar  with  him  know  Ben 
jamin  Harrison,  now  mature  in  years,  is  still 
bravely  on  the  same  side. 
5 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    LAWYER. 

LOVE  of  one's  alma  mater  is  not  an  impulse  of 
graduation.  Upon  the  going  forth  the  young  man 
is  all  confidence  ;  the  world  is  the  reverse  of  awful 
to  him;  it  is  a  field  of  which  he  has  simply  to  take 
possession;  or  it  is  the  sleeping  beauty  of  Trier- 
main,  and  he  the  hero  assigned  to  awake  her;  the 
lions,  goblins,  and  thunders  along  the  way  are  only 
accessories  to  make  the  achievement  more  re 
markable.  The  popularity  of  the  first  picture  in 
the  series  of  Cole's  "  Voyage  of  Life,"  a  radiant 
youth  in  a  shallop  flying  against  a  rippled  current 
toward  the  luminous  temple  in  the  sky,  is  due  less 
to  excellence  of  art  than  to  the  truth  of  the  por 
trayal.  Years  after  exit  from  the  narrow  walls 
of  the  college,  when  the  slips  and  disappointments 
in  the  career  so  eagerly  challenged  have  been 
endured,  then  it  is  that  the  man  becomes  conscious 
that  his  student  days  were  days  of  exceeding 
pleasantness. 

Benjamin   Harrison  at  the  moment  of  issuance 
from  the  university  may  have  felt  himself  a  man 
in  reality  he  was  but  a  boy.     Nevertheless  he  did 

(66) 


THE    LAWYER.  67 

not  lose  an  hour  in  idle  farewells  to  places  of  his 
college  trials  and  triumphs.  From  labor  he  went 
to  labor,  with  two  incentives  to  make  him  manful 
— poverty  and  a  trustful  fiance. 

Exactly  when  he  had  determined  to  be  a  lawyer 
cannot  be  stated.  He  himself  cannot  fix  the 
time.  The  probabilities  are  that  it  was  when  he 
was  passing  through  the  preparatory  studies  at 
Farmer's  College. 

Inclination  to  a  pursuit  is  referable  to  tastes. 
The  votary  feels  the  stir  of  capacity  long  before 
he  enters  upon  the  profession.  The  artist  mani 
fests  it  in  a  facility  to  draw  ;  the  soldier  discovers 
it  in  love  of  parades  and  the  incidents  of  the  camp ; 
the  mechanic  and  the  poet  are  often  born  such. 
It  may  perhaps  be  said  that  multitudes  of  young 
men  in  our  country  drift  toward  the  law  not  from 
any  manifest  aptitude  for  it,  but  because  it  has 
been,  if  it  is  not  now,  the  directest  path  to  political 
prizes.  This  remark  cannot  be  applied  to  young 
Harrison.  His  mental  qualities,  the  gift  of  nature, 
are  all  those  of  the  lawyer  as  contradistinguished 
from  the  politician.  Thus  drawn  to  it  by  innate 
aptitude,  he  was  further  controlled  in  the  choice 
by  one  great  necessity  of  his  situation. 

The  farm  upon  which  he  was  raised  had  at  one 
time  been  a  considerable  possession.  Originally 
there  were  five  hundred  acres  of  it ;  but  his 
father  had  been  careless  in  management.  His 
habits  of  life  were  in  a  degree  inherited.  He  was 


68  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

liberal  and  generous  to  a  fault.  He  delighted  in 
the  entertainment  of  strangers  as  well  as  of  friends. 
He  was  never  deaf  to  appeals  for  assistance. 
Did  a  neighbor  need  an  indorser,  he  addressed 
himself  to  John  Scott  Harrison,  and  was  never 
refused.  When  the  paper  fell  due  and  the  prin 
cipal  was  not  ready  to  meet  it,  an  extension  be 
came  necessary,  the  burthen  of  which  too  fre 
quently  fell  upon  the  surety.  If  further  security 
was  required,  a  mortgage  was  executed  upon  the 
home  farm.  After  a  while  came  judgments  and 
foreclosures.  To  save  the  estate  John  Scott  him 
self  became  a  borrower.  So,  in  the  course  of 
years,  his  affairs  went  from  bad  to  worse,  and 
finally,  as  has  been  stated,  he  was  stripped  of 
everything.  Through  the  kindness  of  relatives, 
he  retained  possession  of  the  premises.  The 
family,  however,  were  in  a  certain  sense  depend 
ents. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  father  when 
young  Benjamin  passed  from  Farmer's  College 
into  Miami  University.  Such  was  his  condition 
when,  two  years  afterwards,  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
the  son  issued  from  the  university.  So,  when  the 
latter  resolved  to  adopt  the  law  as  his  profession, 
the  probabilities  are  that  he  was  mainly  moved 
by  the  prospect  of  finding  it  the  shortest  avenue 
to  livelihood.  Ambition  might  have  had  some 
thing  to  do  with  the  choice,  but  it  was  a  lesser  in 
fluence. 


THE    LAWYER.  69 

One  of  the  notable  firms  of  Cincinnati  was  that 
of  Stover  and  Gwynne.  Few  lawyers  have  been 
more  honored  in  Western  legal  circles  than  Bel 
lamy  Stover.  His  name  is  yet  a  synonyme  for 
honor,  ability  and  genuine  patriotism.  There  was 
no  end  to  his  kindness.  His  life  was  a  succession 
of  good  deeds.  As  a  judge,  the  ermine  he  wore 
on  the  bench  was  even  whiter  when  put  off  than 
when  he  put  it  on.  Socially  he  was  the  pattern 
of  a  gentleman.  As  an  instructor  he  retained 
through  life  the  most  affectionate  regard  of  his 
pupils.  Abram  Gwynne  ably  seconded  him. 
Youncr  Harrison  was  received  into  their  office  as 

o 

a  regular  student.  While  thus  engaged,  he  lived 
at  the  house  of  his  sister,  Mrs.  Eaton,  whose  hus 
band  was  a  physician  in  active  practice. 

Before  he  had  quite  finished  his  legal  course, 
listening  to  a  voice  in  his  heart,  he  made  a  pil 
grimage  to  Oxford,  and  on  the  2Oth  of  October, 
1853,  was  married;  after  which,  with  his  wife,  he 
returned  to  his  father's  place  below  Cincinnati, 
where  he  continued  his  studies,  going  up  fre 
quently  to  the  office  for  examination. 

It  was  but  natural  that  in  the  time  he  was  thus 
occupied  he  should  be  on  the  lookout  for  a  loca 
tion.  We  have  seen  that  his  father's  farm  touched 
the  boundary  line  of  Indiana,  which  became  as 
familiar  to  him  as  his  native  State.  The  names 
of  its  politicians,  lawyers  and  judges  were  per 
fectly  within  his  knowledge — as  perfectly,  in  fact, 


70  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

as  if  they  were  personal  acquaintances.  He 
knew  the  history  of  the  State  from  its  beginning; 
its  territorial  history  was  the  history  of  his  grand 
father,  so  that  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  not 
have  been  interested  in  it,  and  equally  impossible 
that  it  should  have  been  without  attraction  to  him. 
With  excellent  judgment  he  finally  resolved  to 
establish  himself  in  Indianapolis.  And  thither  he 
betook  himself  in  March,  1854. 

His  marriage  was  an  evidence  of  self-reliance 
and  confidence  in  the  goodness  of  Providence. 
Further  evidence  illustrative  of  those  qualities 
may  be  found  in  a  presentation  of  his  worldly 
goods  at  that  time. 

As  we  have  seen,  his  father  was  not  in  condition 
to  assist  him  pecuniarily.  The  good  man  had 
strained  his  remaining  resources  in  educating  him 
and  his  brother.  A  fortunate  circumstance  now 
intervened.  James  Finley,  a  soldier  of  the  war 
of  1812,  had  married  an  aunt  of  young  Harri 
son,  leaving  her  a  widow.  From  her  he  had 
inherited  a  lot  in  Cincinnati,  which  he  turned  to 
present  account.  A  purchaser  was  found  willing 
to  advance  $800  on  the  property;  on  account  of 
the  minority  of  young  Harrison,  the  transaction 
was  perfected  by  a  bond  for  a  deed  upon  his  ar 
rival  at  majority.  That  sum  constituted  the 
entire  fortune  with  which  he  settled  down  in  In 
dianapolis.  A  more  unaristocratic  beginning  of 
life  can  scarcely  be  conceived.  He  was  not  able 


THE    LAWYER.  7 1 

to  buy  him  a  house  or  rent  a  separate  office.  He 
had  but  one  acquaintance  in  the  city,  Mr.  John 
H.  Rea,  who  was  Clerk  of  the  United  States  Dis 
trict  Court,  and  as  such  was  domiciled  in  the  State 
Bank  building  situated  in  the  triangular  corner 
opposite  the  Bates  House.  Mr.  Rea  kindly  offered 
him  a  desk,  and  shortly  a  "  shingle  "  was  nailed  at. 
the  side  of  the  door,  notifying  the  world  that  Ben 
jamin  Harrison,  attorney-at-law,  might  be  found 
within. 

Shortness  of  means  and  lack  of  acquaintance 
ship  were  not  the  only  disadvantages  with  which 
the  young  aspirant  for  legal  honors  had  to  con 
tend.  The  writer  became  acquainted  with  him  by 
introduction  from  Mr.  Rea,  and  well  remembers 
his  personal  appearance.  He  was  small  in  stat 
ure,  of  slender  physique,  and  what  might  be  called 
a  blonde.  His  eyes  were  gray,  tinged  with  blue, 
his  hair  light,  reminding  one  of  what  in  ancient 
days  along  the  Wabash  was  more  truly  than 
poetically  described  as  "  a  tow-head."  He  was 
plainly  dressed,  and,  in  that  respect,  gave  tokens 
of  indifference  to  the  canons  of  fashion.  He  was 
modest  in  manner,  even  diffident ;  but  he  had  a 
pleasant  voice  and  look,  and  did  not  lack  for 
words  to  express  himself.  At  first  one  wondered 
that  a  young  man  apparently  so  lacking  in  asser 
tion  should  presume  to  entrust  himself  so  far 
from  home. 

The  wonder  was  heightened  when  it  became 


72  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

known  that  the  fledgling  was  a  grandson  of  Presi 
dent  William  Henry  Harrison.  He  grew,  how- 
•ever,  with  more  intimate  acquaintanceship ;  and, 
by-and-by,  men,  speaking  of  him  in  the  vernacu 
lar,  prophesied  that  he  would  develop  into  a 
"  swinge  cat/' 

c>  • 

Unable,  as  we  have  seen,  to  take  a  house  and 
furnish  it,  he  secured  boarding  for  himself  and 
Mrs.  Harrison  in  the  Roll  house,  below  the  bank 
building  at  the  corner  of  Maryland  street;  and 
while  waiting  for  business,  he  set  about  mastering 
the  Indiana  statutes  and  the  code  of  practice,  then 
of  recent  adoption.  Business  was  slow  in  com 
ing,  but  his  patience  and  confidence  were  equal 
to  the  occasion. 

About  this  time,  through  the  kindness  of  United 
States  Marshal  John  L.  Robinson  and  his  deputy, 
George  McOuat,  the  young  man  was  appointed' 
crier  of  the  Federal  Court,  the  salary  of  which  in 
term  time  was  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  day.  He 
speaks  of  the  money  received  for  his  services  as 
court  crier  as  the  first  he  ever  made. 

The  great  event,  probably  the  greatest,  in  the 
life  of  every  lawyer,  is  his  first  trial.  A  thousand 
employments  may  come  subsequently  of  higher 
importance  and  vastly  richer  compensation,  but 
that  one  will  never  be  forgotten.  The  old  practi 
tioner  may  be  carried  by  retainers  from  the 
County  Court  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State, 
and  for  that  matter  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


THE    LAWYER.  73 

United  States  ;  he  may  have  achieved  a  national 
reputation,  yet,  if  one  will  ask  him  of  his  life,  he 
will  not  fail  to  go  back  to  his  first  suit  and  give 
you  faithfully  and  in  the  minutest  details  all  its 
particulars. 

The  Indianapolis  bar  at  the  time  young  Harri 
son  sought  admission  to  it  was  composed  of  gen 
tlemen  of  unusual  ability  and  reputation.  The 
mere  mention  of  their  names  is  sufficient  to  justify 
the  statement.  Oliver  H.  Smith,  Lucien  Barbour, 
Calvin  Fletcher,  Ovid  Butler,  Simon  Yandes  (of 
the  firm  of  Fletcher,  Butler  &  Yandes),  William 
Quarles,  Hiram  Brown,  Hugh  O'Neal,  ex-Governor 
David  Wallace,  John  L.  Ketcham,  James  Morrison, 
David  McDonald,  were  seniors  in  the  practice. 
There  were  others  rising  into  notoriety  who  might 
be  mentioned  :  John  Coburn,  Napoleon  B.  Taylor, 
Albert  G.  Porter,  William  Wallace,  all  of  secured 
renown  now,  were  of  the  second  class.  The  first 
named,  however,  were  in  the  full  tide  of  practice 
and  of  ability  to  make  an  impression  in  any  court 
of  the  Union.  In  that  day  speaking  ability  was 
especially  required;  the  tyro  who  was  without  it 
was  thought  to  be  a  hopeless  case  in  advance. 
The  mere  office  lawyer  was  a  subject  of  pity,  if  not 
contempt.  If  in  the  family  there  was  a  boy  who 
had  what  was  called  the  "  gift  of  gab,"  his  parents 
and  friends  foreordained  him  to  the  law.  Opinion 
in  that  respect  has  undergone  a  somewhat  radical 
change ;  but  without  dwelling  upon  it  every  one 


74  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

familiar  with  the  gentlemen  named  would  see  at 
a  glance  the  difficulties  before  young  Harrison. 
He  would  have  to  prove  not  merely  his  knowledge 
generally  but  his  ability  to  cope  before  a  jury 
with  any  one  or  all  of  the  formidable  array  given. 
Amongst  others,  Jonathan  W.  Gordon,  in  the  fall 
of  1854,  was  regarded  with  great  popular  favor. 
Of  unquestioned  ability,  an  enthusiast  but  eccen 
tric,  he  was  serving  the  people  as  prosecuting 
attorney ;  and,  having  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Harrison,  he  formed  a  high  opinion  of  him  and 
led  him  to  his  first  appearance. 

There  was  on  the  docket  an  indictment  against 
an  individual  for  burglary.  The  case  came  up 
for  hearing  in  the  afternoon,  and  by  chance 
Horace  Mann  was  announced  for  a  lecture  in  the 
evening.  Major  Gordon  was  anxious  to  hear 
that  distinguished  person  ;  and,  fearful  that  the 
trial  would  be  continued  into  the  night,  to  accom 
modate  himself  he  requested  his  new  friend  to 
assist  him.  The  invitation  was  accepted.  Judge 
Majors  was  presiding.  The  defence  was  con 
ducted  by  Governor  Wallace  and  Sims  Colley. 
As  anticipated  the  evidence  was  heard,  and  Major 
Gordon  for  the  State  and  Mr.  Colley  for  the  de 
fendant  finished  their  speeches  in  the  afternoon ; 
whereupon  an  adjournment  was  had. 

The  interior  of  the  old  court-house  was  dingy, 
gloomy  and  forbidding  in  the  daytime ;  at  night 
it  was  funereal.  When  young  Harrison  came  in 


THE    LAWYER.  75 

to  make   the  concluding-  argument  he   found  a 

o  o 

lanre  assemblage  waiting  to  hear  the  debut.     On 

fc>  o  O 

the  fixed  desk  before  the  judge  there  were  two 
tallow  candles  lighted.  The  clerk  in  his  place 
below  the  judge  protected  by  a  stout  railing  sat 
with  his  book  opened,  in  a  light  similarly  derived. 
On  the  pillars  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  and  here 
and  there  upon  the  walls,  were  old-fashioned  tin 
sconces,  casting  a  glow  red  and  murky  with 
smoke,  partly  of  cigars,  partly  from  a  leaking 
stove.  At  the  judge's  left  sat  the  sheriff,  and  at 
his  left  again  the  panel.  At  the  feet  of  each 
juror  was  the  inevitable  spittoon,  and  in  pauses 
the  plug  of  tobacco  was  passed  from  man  to  man. 
In  crises  of  the  evidence  and  the  speeches  the  ex 
pectoration  was  incessant ;  sometimes  the  amber 
fluid  missed  the  targets  at  which  it  was  projected. 
Altogether  the  scene  was  not  such  as  to  impart 
inspiration  to  the  debutant  upon  his  entry.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  wonder  grew  when  he  rose  to 
begin,  so  boyish-looking  was  he. 

He  had  taken  full  notes  of  the  evidence,  and, 
like  all  beginners,  fearful  of  mistakes  in  state 
ment,  was  resolved  to  read  from  them  copiously. 
A  table  had  been  drawn  between  him  and  the 
jury,  and  when  he  began,  to  his  consternation,  he 
discovered  the  light  was  wholly  insufficient.  The 
sheriff  had  provided  but  one  candle !  What 
should  he  do  ? 

There  was  dead  silence  throughout  the  dusky 


/  6  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

room.  His  voice,  sharp,  clear,  penetrating,  was 
beino;  heard  to  the  farthest  corner.  The  audience 

o 

was  already  in  sympathy  with  him.  The  situa 
tion  was  embarrassing.  He  referred  to  his  notes. 
He  wished  to  be  absolutely  correct.  He  shifted 
the  candle.  He  turned  the  paper  to  every  angle. 
It  would  not  do.  The  pencilling  refused  to  come 
out.  Then,  in  desperation,  he  flung  the  notes 
away.  To  his  own  amazement  he  found  his 
memory  perfect.  Best  of  all  he  found  he  could 
think  and  speak  upon  his  feet  flash-like  and 
coherently.  There  were  not  only  words  at  com 
mand,  but  the  right  words,  enabling  him  to  ex 
press  himself  exactly,  tie  found  too  the  pleasure 
there  always  is  in  the  faculty  of  speech  with  free 
dom  superadded.  Confidence  came  with  the  dis 
coveries.  From  that  day  to  this,  whether  address 
ing  himself  to  court  or  jury,  or  the  vaster  audiences 
who  furnish  the  delight  of  oratory  on  the  plat 
form  or  stump,  he  has  been  an  impromptu  speaker. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this,  maiden  effort  he  was 
congratulated  by  everybody. 

Under  the  code  of  that  day  the  defence  had  the 
closing-  speech,  and  as  the  duty  devolved  upon 
Gov.  Wallace,  he  was  profuse  in  complimentary 
references,  and  dwelt  with  feeling  upon  the  kind 
ness  of  the  young  man's  grandfather  to  him  when 
he  was  a  lacl. 

The  audience  dispersed  to  exploit  "  that  little 
fellow,  Harrison."  "What  a  swinge-cat  he  is! 


THE    LAWYER.  77 

Who  would  have  thought  it?     He  is  only  a  boy 
yet !  "  they  said  to  each  other. 

The  jury,  after  retirement  sufficient  to  take  the 
usual  votes,  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty — and 
Harrison's  first  trial  was  a  triumph  and  more.  It 
brought  him  honorable  notoriety  and  quick  induc 
tion  into  business. 

Shortly  afterwards  he  was  furnished  another 
opportunity,  but  of  a  different  character.  By 
appointment  of  Gov.  Joseph  A.  Wright  he  con 
ducted  a  legislative  investigation  of  great  public 
interest,  and  acquitted  himself  most  happily. 

He  had  in  the  meantime  changed  his  boarding- 
house  from  Roll's  to  a  Mrs.  Jameson's,  in  the  little 
old  frame  building  nearly  opposite  the  Denison 
house.  Citizens  of  the  early  time  will  recall  it  as 
the  residence  of  David  V.  Cully. 

Mrs.  Harrison  visited  Oxford,  and  on  the  I2th 
of  August,  1854,  Russell,  her  eldest  child,  was 
born.  When  she  returned  in  the  fall  it  was  neces 
sary  to  give  up  the  room  at  Mrs.  Jameson's  and 
take  a  house.  Accordingly  a  removal  was  had 
to  a  building  on  the  south  side  of  Vermont  street, 
east  of  New  Jersey.  The  new  residence  was  very 
modest,  and  in  strict  accordance  with  the  renter's 
income.  It  was  one  story,  with  three  apartments, 
of  which  the  front  was  used  as  a  bed-room,  the 
next  as  kitchen  and  dining-room.  There  was  also 
a  shed-kitchen  attached.  Sometimes  they  had  a 
"help;"  as  a  rule,  however,  Mrs.  Harrison  did 


78  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  cooking,  and  was  herself  the  housekeeper. 
He  assisted  her  all  he  could.  Not  unfrequently 
he  sawed  the  wood  she  required;  his  last  duty 
before  going  to  the  office  at  morning  and  noon 
was  to  fill  the  wood-box  and  buckets.  Abroad 
and  at  home  he  was  void  of  affectation  or  pre 
tense.  He  struggled  vigorously  against  getting 
in  debt  and  succeeded.  Referring  to  that  period, 
he  laughs,  and  says,  "  They  were  close  times,  I 
tell  you.  A  five  dollar  bill  was  an  event.  There 
was  one  good  friend  through  it  all — Robert 
Browning,  the  druggist.  I  shall  always  recollect 
him  with  gratitude.  He  believed  in  me.  When 
things  were  particularly  tight  I  could  go  into  his 
store  and  borrow  $5  from  the  drawer.  A  ticket 
in  its  place  was  all  that  was  required.  Such 
friends  make  life  worth  living." 

While  a  renter  of  the  little  Vermont  street 
house,  young  Harrison  accepted  an  offer  of  part 
nership  with  Mr.  William  Wallace.  In  associa 
tion  with  Mr.  Theodore  Haughey,  now  president 
of  the  Indianapolis  National  Bank,  that  gentleman 
was  conducting  a  real  estate  business  extra  his 
law  practice.  He  himself  tells  of  the  partner 
ship  : 

I  formed  his  (Mr.  Harrison's)  acquaintance  very  soon 
after  he  came  to  the  city.  He  was  about  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  a  white-haired,  boyish-looking  young  man, 
but  very  pleasant,  and  it  did  not  take  long  to  find  out 
his  superior  intellectual  qualities,  and  his  sterling  worth. 
It  happened  that  in  the  year  1855  I  had  received  the 


THE    LAWYER.  79 

nomination  for  clerk  of  Marion  county  on  the  people's 
ticket.  The  canvass  required  a  good  deal  of  time,  and  I 
concluded  to  offer  my  young  friend  a  partnership.  I  met 
him  on  the  street  one  day,  and  told  him  I  had  some  good 
clients  and  a  fair  practice,  and  that  if  he  would  go  into 
the  office  and  take  care  of  them  while  I  was  canvassing, 
we  would  share  profits.  I  think  this  was  the  only  part 
nership  agreement  we  ever  had.  I  was  defeated  for  the 
office,  so  we  continued  the  practice  of  law  together  until 
the  year  1860  or  1861.  It  is  pleasant  to  say  that  through 
his  assistance  and  ability  as  a  lawyer  we  retained  our 
clients  and  got  new  ones.  The  truth  is,  our  business  was 
of  a  quiet  kind — some  collections,  a  good  deal  of  probate 
business,  but  once  in  a  while  a  case  would  come  along 
that  tested  the  mettle  of  the  young  partner. 

He  very  soon  disclosed  his  admirable  qualities  as  a 
lawyer — quick  of  apprehension,  clear,  methodical  and 
logical  in  his  analysis  and  statement  of  a  case.  He  pos 
sessed  a  natural  faculty  for  getting  the  exact  truth  out  of 
a  witness,  either  by  a  direct  or  cross-examination.  In 
this  respect  he  has  but  few  equals  anywhere  in  the  pro 
fession.  Always  exacting  from  courts  and  juries  their 
closest  attention  and  interest  in  the  cause,  and  when  the 
cause  demanded  it,  illustrating  the  rarest  powers  of  the 
genuine  orator.  He  is  a  hard  worker,  giving  to  every 
case  the  best  of  his  skill  and  labor,  so  that  he  never  went 
unprepared,  trusting  to  good  luck,  or  the  want  of  skill  or 
negligence  of  the  other  side.  He  was  poor.  The  truth 
is,  it  was  a  struggle  for  bread  and  meat  with  both  of  us. 
He  had  a  noble  young  wife,  who  cheerfully  shared  with 
him  the  plainest  and  simplest  style  of  living.  He  did  the 
work  about  his  home  for  a  long  time  himself,  and  thus 
made  his  professional  income,  not  large,  keep  him  inde 
pendent  and  free  from  debt. 

The  new  firm  of  Wallace  &  Harrison  opened 
office  in  a  front  room  of  Temperance  Hall,  on 
Washington  street.  A  glance  at  their  cash-book 
discloses  the  character  of  their  business  in  gen- 


SO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

eral.  It  was  not  large,  but  good  for  the  time. 
The  charges  were  for  notarial  work,  writing  deeds, 
advice,  cases  before  justices  of  the  peace,  services 
in  probate  and  collections,  besides  which  appear 
ances  in  the  Circuit  Court  were  fairly  frequent 
with  them.  The  junior  member  was  quite  regu 
lar  in  attending  sessions  at  Danville.  He  had 

o 

retainers  also  in  Hancock  county.  Referring  to 
the  profits  of  the  concern,  he  says,  laughing 
heartily :  "  I  think  I  was  very  often  ahead  of  Will 
in  the  cash." 

In  1860  Mr.  Wallace  was  elected  clerk  of 
Marion  county.  The  firm  of  Wallace  &  Harri 
son  was  thereupon  terminated,  and  speedily  suc 
ceeded  by  that  of  Fishback  &  Harrison.  This 
was  in  its  turn  concluded  by  Harrison's  entry  into 
the  army  in  1862. 

The  years  thus  covered  were  to  the  subject  of 
our  narrative  years  of  undivided  attention  to  the 
law.  The  politics  of  the  State  were  in  constant 
ferment.  The  questions  between  the  North  and 
South  growing  out  of  the  insistance  upon  the 
part  of  the  latter  of  a  right  to  carry  slavery  into 
the  Territories  were  advancing  to  a  point  of  bit 
terness  theretofore  unknown  in  the  country.  The 
debates  over  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  Con 
gress,  the  war  on  the  Kansas  border,  the  raid  of 
John  Brown,  had  followed  each  other  in  rapid 
succession.  Here  and  there,  in  political  circles, 
there  were  whispers  of  an  appeal  to  arms,  and 


THE    LAWYER.  8 1 

representative  men  talked  politics  in  a  mood 
strangely  threatening.  It  cannot  be  supposed 
that  Mr.  Harrison  was  blind  to  what  was  trans 
piring.  His  perceptions  were  bright,  his  feelings 
quick ;  he  was  capable  of  weighing  the  claims  of 
the  disputants ;  yet  he  went  his  way  quietly,  at 
tending  to  his  profession  and  struggling  to  add  to 
the  receipts  it  yielded  him.  On  the  3d  of  April, 
1858,  a  daughter  had  been  born  to  him. 

In  a  certain  sense  every  citizen  who  debates 
political  issues  and  feels  concerned  in  them  is  a 
politician.  In  that  sense  Mr.  Harrison  was  a 
politician.  His  position  and  party  affinities  were 
not  in  the  least  doubtful ;  he  was  outspoken  with 
respect  to  his  opinions  ;  he  could  not  keep  silence 
in  the  midst  of  the  war  of  words  waging  around 
him.  Yet,  thinking  that  his  first  duty  was  to  his 
wife  and  children,  whom  he  wished  above  all 
things  to  be  comfortable  and  happy,  he  eschewed 
politics  until,  in  1860,  he  became  a  candidate  be 
fore  the  Republican  Convention  for  the  nomina 
tion  of  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Even 
then  he  reconciled  the  candidacy  with  his  obliga 
tion  to  family  by  the  idea  that  the  office  he  sought 
was  strictly  in  the  line  of  his  profession. 

Upon  the  assemblage  of  the  Convention  he 
was  nominated,  and,  entering  the  race  with  char 
acteristic  zeal  and  energy,  he  was  elected  by  a 
majority  of  9,688. 

Not  seldom  it  is  the  unexpected  that  happens 


82  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

in  politics.  Mr.  Harrison  did  his  share  in  stump 
ing  the  State  for  his  party ;  upon  its  success  he 
knew  his  own  depended.  He  prepared  himself 
carefully  for  the  work,  and  his  speeches  were  well 
received.  His  associate  in  the  canvass  part  of 
the  time  was  the  lamented  Miles  Fletcher,  candi 
date  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 
With  that  gentleman  he  filled  appointments  in 
many  counties  in  the  north  and  along  the  Ohio 
river.  There  was  one  fixed  for  him  at  Rockville, 
in  Parke  county,  which  he  attended  alone. 

Interest  in  the  contest,  as  will  be  remembered, 
was  centred  chiefly  in  the  battle  between  Colonel 
Henry  S.  Lane  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hendricks,  who 
were  opposing  each  other  for  the  Governorship. 
When  young  Harrison  set  out  for  Rockville  he 
had  no  other  thought  than  of  making  his  speech 
of  general  advocacy  of  the  Republican  party  and 
its  tickets,  State  and  National,  without  responsi 
bility  other  than  pertained  to  his  own  subordinate 
struggle.  In  the  absence  of  a  railroad,  he  was 
driven  in  a  buggy  to  the  old  county  town. 
When  he  arrived  there  he  knew  no  one  except 
General  Steele.  It  was  his  first  appearance  in 
that  community. 

Upon  alighting  at  the  old  tavern  he  learned  for 
the  first  time  that  Mr.  Thomas  Hendricks  had  a 
meeting  appointed  for  the  same  hour  at  the  court 
house. 

The  Republicans  gathered  around  and  told  him 


THE   LAWYER.  8$ 

that  the  Democrats  were  hectoring  them  with  sug 
gestions  of  a  joint  debate.  The  young  man  met 
the  news  at  first  with  modest  hesitation.  Mr. 
Hendricks'  reputation  as  a  speaker  and  debater 
was  national,  and  he  had  been  pitted  against 
Colonel  Lane  as  the  fittest  Democrat  in  the  State 
to  take  care  of  the  canvass.  The  two  were,  in 
fact,  the  supereminent  champions  of  their  respec 
tive  parties,  yet  a  greater  unlikeness  in  manner 
and  method  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than  ex 
isted  between  them.  Mr.  Hendricks  was  adroit, 
subtle,  possessed  of  a  stock  of  words  remarkably 
diplomatic,  and  a  delivery  earnest  and  persuasive. 
Colonel  Lane,  on  the  other  hand,  was  fiery,  ges- 
ticulative,  sarcastic  and  anecdotal.  A  toss  of  the 
hand,  a  look  sufficed  him  to  stir  a  crowd  to  a 
white  heat  of  enthusiasm.  Both  were  rich  in  po 
litical  information.  From  lives  spent  in  the 
courts,  both  were  trained  logicians. 

This  description  will  suggest  the  reason  of  the 
hesitation  shown  by  young  Harrison  when  his 
political  friends  first  notified  him  of  the  challenge 
to  joint  debate  with  the  redoubtable  Mr.  Hen 
dricks.  He  shrank  from  the  effect  of  failure  upon 
the  interests  of  his  party. 

"That  is,  of  course  a  very  unfair  proposal/' 
he  said.  "  Mr.  Hendricks  is  at  the  head  of  the 
Democratic  ticket,  while  I  am  at  the  tail  of  the 
Republican  ticket.  He  is  an  experienced  public 
debater,  while  I  am  on  my  first  trip." 


84  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

Finally  he  said :  "  Gentlemen,  if  we  can't  get 
along  with  this  without  showing  the  white  feather, 
you  just  tell  them  we  will  consent  to  a  joint  meet 
ing."  And  it  was  so  arranged ;  that  is,  as  Mr. 
Hendricks  did  not  want  to  dignify  the  affair  by 
making  it  a  joint  discussion  in  form,  his  friends 
proposed  that,  as  his  appointment  was  first,  he 
should  speak  two  hours,  leaving  Harrison  to 
follow. 

The  people,  men  and  women,  jammed  the 
court-house.  There  was  scarcely  breathing  room 
in  it.  John  S.  Davis,  a  Democratic  magnate  of 
the  locality,  and  Mr.  Voorhees,  the  "Tall  Syca 
more  of  the  Wabash,"  occupied  high  seats,  divid 
ing  honors  with  Mr.  Hendricks.  Young  Harri 
son  went  in  unnoticed.  No  one  was  so  poor  as 
to  offer  him  a  chair.  He  was  compelled  to  con 
tent  himself  with  a  seat  on  the  edge  of  a  desk, 
his  feet  hanging  pendulously  in  the  air.  The 
three  great  lights  of  the  Democracy  had  no  fear 
of  him ;  to  the  Republicans  he  was  an  unknown 
quantity. 

Mr.  Hendricks  found  it  easy  going.  The  time 
was  when  the  Democracy  were  trying  to  persuade 
men  that  the  early  and  later  rains  and  the  in 
creased  population  and  development  of  the  coun 
try  were  all  due  to  their  beneficent  influences. 
The  speech  was  pleasant,  plausible  and  strong. 
To  the  unknown,  perched  upon  the  sharp  edge 
of  the  desk  in  the  squeeze  of  the  crowd,  the  two 


THE    LAWYER.  85 

hours  stretched  into  four,  and  the  applause  smote 
him  like  blows.  At  last  Mr.  Hendricks  finished 
and  took  his  seat,  having  first  generously  re 
quested  the  people  to  remain. 

Then  Harrison's  turn  came.  When  he  ap 
peared  on  the  stand  it  was  amidst  a  heavy  silence. 
The  men  gazed  at  him  blankly.  The  women 
pitied  him.  To  regain  composure  he  was  slow  in 
arranging  his  documents.  He  began  at  length 
with  a  well-worded  compliment  to  Mr.  Hendricks. 
Directly  he  stated  a  proposition,  and  charged  that 
at  some  previous  time  the  Democrats  had  con 
ceded  it  to  be  true.  There  was  a  stir  in  the 
house  indicative  of  a  sensation,  and  promptly  Mr. 
Voorhees  reared  his  tall  form,  claiming  every  eye, 
and,  with  a  stately  wave  of  the  hand  to  check  any 
demonstration,  denied  the  truth  of  the  statement. 
An  electric  flash  is  not  quicker  than  the  retort. 

"  Fellow-citizens,  the  denial  to  which  we  have 
listened  induces  me  to  amend  my  assertion.  I 
now  say  that  every  Democrat  approved  the  propo 
sition,  except  Mr.  Voorhees.  He  was  then  a 


With  the  spontaneity  that  distinguishes  an 
American  audience  above  all  others,  a  yell  burst 
out,  and  before  it  ended  the  boyish-looking  indi 
vidual  in  the  stand  know  that  the  house  was  well 
stocked  with  Republicans. 

Pleased,  confident,  smiling,  he  then  took  up  Mr. 
Hendricks'  points,  and  answered  them  one  by  one, 


86  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

supporting  each  statement  with  the  record.  As 
he  proceeded  the  difficulty  was  to  repress  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  friends.  At  the  conclusion  Mr. 
Voorhees  announced  that  he  would  reply  to  Mr. 
Harrison  in  the  evening,  and  he  did,  but  without 
avail.  The  impression  left  by  the  young  dispu 
tant  is  still  ineffaced.  The  debate  has  now  only 
to  be  mentioned  in  the  hearing  of  a  Rockville 
Republican,  and  he  will  laugh,  and  rub  his  hands, 
and  break  into  exclamations.  "  Such  a  drubbing 
as  the  little  fellow  did  give  them !  And  he  was 
so  clean  about  it !  No  abuse,  no  blackguarding ! 
I  would  walk  a  hundred  miles  to  see  it  done 


over." 


The  story  crept  abroad  over  the  State,  and 
the  candidate  for  reporter  leaped  into  notoriety 
with  a  bound. 

Mr.  Harrison  took  possession  of  the  office,  and 
lost  no  time  in  getting  to  work.  Official  duties 
were  then  added  to  his  current  law  practice.  His 
days  were  crowded,  and  he  borrowed  hours  from 
the  nights.  Patiently,  and  with  no  word  of  com 
plaint,  he  labored  for  the  wife  and  little  ones  at 
home.  Ambition  he  had,  but  there  was  never  a 
quickened  pulse  from  it  that  had  not  reference  to 
them.  The  ambition  that  begins  at  home  is 
always  with  a  healthful  leaven. 

One  day,  the  better  to  secure  himself  from  in 
terruption  while  making  the  index  to  a  volume 
of  the  reports,  he  took  refuge  in  a  basement- room 


THE    LAWYER.  87 

of  the  old  First  Presbyterian  church  on  the  gov 
ernor's  circle.  He  was  so  engaged  when  the  news 
of  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  was  brought  him ; 
after  which  he  could  do  nothing  more  with  pen 
or  pencil  that  day.  Text,  index,  syllabus,  clients, 
all  for  a  time  lost  interest  with  him.  Like  his 
neighbors,  like  the  loyal  millions  of  the  North,  he 
could  think  of  nothing  but  the  insulted  flag  and 
the  dangers  to  the  Union.  Next  morning  his 
blood  was  cooler.  Sight  of  the  wife  and  children 
restored  him  to  himself,  and  he  returned  to  work. 
He  has  since  confessed  that  the  zest  in  it  was 
gone — his  heart  was  with  the  gathering  soldiers. 
He  attended  meetings,  and  did  everything  he 
could  except  speak.  That  his  pride  and  sense  of 
propriety  forbade.  How  could  he  ask  another 
man  to  enlist,  and  the  uniform  not  upon  his  own 
back  ?  "  By-and-by  may  be,"  he  would  say  to 
himself,  "they  may  let  me  go."  The  pronoun 
was  but  a  name  for  his  family.  It  will  be  seen 
that  in  fact  he  did  not  become  a  recruiting  agent 
until  he  himself  became  a  recruit. 

Upon  entering  the  army  a  volume  of  the  re 
ports  was  in  hand,  and  he  appointed  John  T.  Dye 
and  John  Caven  to  finish  it.  Mr.  Dye  became  by 
his  appointment  deputy-reporter.  This  was  in 
July,  1862. 

The  question  then  arose  whether  Mr.  Harri 
son's  acceptance  of  a  military  commission  did  not 
vacate  his  commission  as  reporter  of  the  Supreme 


88  BENJAMIN    HARRISON.  , 

Court.  The  Democrats  of  the  State  accepted 
the  affirmative  theory ;  and  in  the  fall  succeeding 
Mr.  Harrison's  enlistment  in  the  army  they  nomi 
nated  the  Hon.  Michael  C.  Kerr,  who  afterwards 
(became  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
^their  candidate.  He  was  elected  and  brought  a 
mandate  against  the  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court 
to  compel  the  delivery  of  the  records  to  him. 
The  Supreme  Court  decided  that  Mr.  Harrison 
had  vacated  the  reportership,  and  that  Mr.  Kerr 
had  been  duly  elected  to  it.  The  latter,  accord 
ingly,  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  and 
continued  to  discharge  them  until  the  fall  of  1864. 
The  Republican  Convention  of  that  year  renomi- 
nated  Colonel  Harrison,  who  was  then  in  the  field 
with  his  regiment  engaged  in  the  Atlanta  cam 
paign.  He  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  19,713, 
which  was  no  doubt  partly  due  to  the  sympathy 
excited  by  what  seemed  a  wrongful  ouster  from 
office,  and  an  indirect  punishment  by  a  Demo 
cratic  Supreme  Court  for  such  a  practical  mani 
festation  of  loyalty  to  the  flag.  Then,  thinking 
that  if  the  acceptance  of  a  military  commission 
vacated  the  civil  office,  a  reverse  application  of 
the  principle  could  not  do  more  in  the  new  situa 
tion  than  vacate  his  Colonelcy — a  question  to  be 
heard  at  Atlanta  instead  of  by  a  session  of  judges 
in  chambers — Mr.  Harrison  reappointed  Mr.  Dye 
his  deputy,  and  continued  with  his  regiment  in 
the  field. 


THE   LAWYER.  89 

Upon  his  muster  out  Colonel  Harrison  resumed 
duty  as  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  While 
in  the  field  he  had  received  a  letter  from  his 
former  partner,  Mr.  W.  P.  Fishback,  then  of  the 
firm  of  Porter  &  Fishback,  inviting  him  to  join 
that  firm,  which  he  subsequently  did.  The  per 
tinacity  with  which  he  would  cling  to  work  is  well 
illustrated  by  a  habit  he  had  while  reporter  of 
taking  a  roll  of  proof  in  his  pocket  when  he  went 
to  the  court-house,  and  of  reading  it  in  favorable 
intervals.  He  would  even  carry  proof-sheets 
with  him  to  concerts. 

During  his  period  of  service  in  the  army  his 
family  resided  in  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Ala 
bama  and  North  streets.  At  the  time  of  his 
muster  out  he  was  in  debt,  but  the  profits  of 
business  upon  his  return,  added  to  those  of  the 
reportership,  soon  relieved  him,  and  he  was  even 
able  to  put  some  additions  and  improvements 
upon  his  property. 

Thanks  to  an  excellent  memory,  he  was  able 
upon  re-entering  the  law  office  to  share  its  labors 
with  his  partners  to  their  satisfaction.  Conscious 
that  the  practice  of  the  law  must  remain  his  de 
pendency  through  life  he  never  allowed  himself 
I  to  grow  rusty  in  it.  While  Supreme  Court  Re 
porter  and  United  States  Senator,  he  gave  every 
spare  minute  to  the  office  and  to  appearances  in 
court.  Persistence  in  such  habits  has  enabled 
him,  despite  interruption,  to  reach  the  head  of  the 


QO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

bar  in  Indiana,  and  maintain  himself  there  in  face 
of  the  rivalry  of  a  number  of  lawyers  of  ability  to 
adorn  any  court  in  the  world. 

The  firm  of  Porter,  Harrison  &  Fishback  was 
formed  in  1865.  About  five  years  afterwards 
Mr.  Fishback  went  into  the  newspaper  business, 
and  the  firm  then  became  Messrs.  Porter,  Harri 
son  &  Hines.  A  change  was  next  effected  by  the 
retirement  of  Governor  Porter.  Mr.  W.  H.  H. 
Miller  took  his  place.  In  1883  Mr.  Hines  retired, 
and  Mr.  John  B.  Elam  coming  in,  the  firm-name 
became  what  it  is  to-day — Harrison,  Miller  & 
Elam. 

General  Harrison  is  a  lawyer  by  natural  gifts. 
Probably  no  contemporary  exceeds  him  in  quick 
ness  of  comprehension  and  breadth  or  reach  of 
judgment.  Analysis  with  him  is  an  instinctive 
mental  operation.  He  does  not  go  to  the  books 
to  find  principles ;  with  the  principles  already  in 
mind  it  is  his  custom  to  ask  for  the  authorities. 
That  which  ought  to  be  the  law,  as  he  sees  it, 
almost  invariably  turns  out  to  be  the  law.  These 
qualities  make  him  easily  a  master  of  all  classes 
of  questions,  and  equip  him  for  practice  in  the 
highest  courts  as  well  as  in  the  lower,  in  criminal 
cases  not  less  than  civil,  in  matters  probate  and 
in  matters  chancery.  They  make  him  also  equally 
formidable  before  a  jury  or  a  judge.  His  ex 
amination  and  cross-examination  of  witnesses  are 
never-failing  sources  of  amusement  and  study  to 


(  THE   LAWYER.  9! 

the  bystander.  When  he  has  finished  with  a 
witness  and  notified  him  to  stand  aside,  it  is  seldom 
that  he  has  not  wrung  from  him  all  the  person 
knows  of  the  least  pertinency  to  the  issues.  On 
such  occasions  he  is  scrupulously  kind  and 
courteous.  The  witness  steps  down  and  out  and 
goes  his  way  without  bitterness  ;  if  he  has  crossed 
himself,  very  often  he  is  unaware  of  it.  In  after 
reflection  he  remembers  chiefly  the  pleasant  voice 
and  countenance  of  his  interrogator. 

So,  in  argument,  in  the  heat  of  conflicts,  General 
Harrison  is  scrupulously  observant  of  the  ameni 
ties  due  to  the  jury,  opposing  counsel  and  the 
presiding  judge.  His  deportment  to  the  latter  is 
so  respectful  that,  while  wrestling  against  an 
adverse  opinion,  he  was  never  known  to  have 
been  the  occasion  of  a  scene  in  court.  He  is 
earnest  where  what  he  thinks  his  rights  are  in 
volved,  but  never  insolent,  cringing  or  angry.  In 
course  of  speech,  speaking  of  the  facts  elicited,  he 
keeps  himself  carefully  within  the  record.  In  the 
closing  arguments  the  opposing  counsel  finds  no 
necessity  to  interrupt  him  ;  neither  has  he  trouble 
with  him  in  preparing  a  record  for  an  appeal. 

Tricks,  traps,  surprises  and  small  advantages 
are  foreign  to  General  Harrison's  ideas  of  pro 
fessional  honor.  He  may  not  always  be  eloquent, 
but  he  is  always  logical ;  if  the  occasion  demands 
it,  however,  he^can  be  grandly  eloquent.  His  in 
dignation,  like  his  pathos,  is  natural.  He  despises 


92  BENJAMIN   HARRISON. 

attempts  at  dramatic  effect;  he  is  characteristically 
straightforward,  and  his  comparisons  are  never 
far-fetched ;  his  figures  of  speech  are  always 
clothed  in  the  simplest  words,  so  that  he  is  enter 
taining  to  everybody  who  hears  him,  and  easily 
understood  by  everybody.  The  secret  of  his 
power,  whether  in  court  or  on  the  stump,  lies  in 
the  fact  that  he  never  fails  to  make  himself  per 
fectly  understood. 

These  are  words  of  high  praise ;  they  may  even 
sound  like  extravagance ;  and  whoever  reads  them 
may  be  curious  to  have  samples  set  before  him 
that  he  may  decide  for  himself  if  what  is  said  is 
justified  by  the  facts.  With  this  idea  the  writer 
consents  to  furnish  two  arguments  in  full. 

Speech  in  the  defense  of  General  Alvin  P.  Hovey,  in  Mil- 
ligan  vs.  Hovey,  United  States  Circuit  Court,  May  term, 
1871. 

Explanatory. 

One  of  the  incredible  things  incident  to  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion — incredible  at  least  to  young 
people  reading  of  that  great  event — is  that  there 
could  be  found  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  whose  soldiers  were  numbered  by  the 
hundred  thousands,  enough  rebel  sympathizers  to 
attempt  an  armed  revolution.  But  such  was  the 
fact,  and  the  proof  of  it  is  absolute. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  a  conspiracy  was  set  on 
foot  with  intent  to  overthrow  the  government  of 


THE    LAWYER.  93 

the  United  States.  For  that  purpose  a  secret 
society  known  as  the  Order  of  American  Knights, 
or  Order  of  Sons  of  Liberty,  was  organized.  The 
immediate  object  was  the  separation  of  Ohio,  In 
diana,  Illinois,  Missouri  and  Kentucky  from  the 
Eastern  States ;  failing  in  that,  the  membership 
was  to  join  fortunes  with  the  South.  It  operated 
with  grips,  pass-words  and  obligations  of  secresy. 
Admitting  the  credibility  of  confessing  leaders,  it 
comprehended  a  membership  of  from  75,000  to 
125,000  in  Indiana;  from  80,000  to  108,000  in 
Ohio ;  from  40,000  to  70,000  in  Kentucky ;  from 
100,000  to  130,000  in  Illinois;  from  20,000  to 
40,000  in  Missouri ;  and  in  Michigan  and  New 
York  about  20,000  each.  Vallandingham,  in  a 
speech  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  placed  the  membership 
at  500,000. 

It  was  moreover  a  military  organization,  with 
a  full  complement  of  officers  extending  down  from 
a  commander-in-chief,  and  a  fair  supply  of  arms 
and  ammunition.  By  inspection  of  invoices,  there 
had  been  imported  into  Indiana  alone,  in  February 
and  March,  1864,  30,000  guns  and  revolvers,  prop 
erty  of  the  so-called  Sons  of  Liberty. 

As  might  have  been  foreseen,  the  attention  of 
the  general  government  was  drawn  to  the  order.  . 
Arrests  were  made,  followed  by  a  prosecution. 
A  military  commission  was  assembled  at  the 
United  States  Court  rooms  in  Indianapolis,  Sep 
tember  19,  1864,  by  order  of  Brevet  Major-Gen- 


94  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

eral  Alvin  P.  Hovey,  before  which,  on  the  2 1  st  of 
October,  Wm.  A.  Bowles,  Andrew  Humphries, 
Horace  Heffren,  Lambclin  P.  Milligan  and  Stephen 
Horsey,  citizens  of  Indiana,  were  solemnly  ar 
raigned  for  conspiracy  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  The  Ritual  of  the  Order 
was  submitted  in  proof,  and  amongst  the  witnesses 
there  was  one  of  the  traitorous  major-generals. 
The  trial  continued  through  many  days,  with  result, 
finally  that  the  accused  were  found  guilty  and  sen 
tenced  to  death.  President  Lincoln  subsequently 
commuted  the  sentence  to  imprisonment  for  life. 
The  case,  on  habeas  corpus,  was  taken  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  by  Major 
Gordon,  counsel  for  the  defense,  who  was  assisted 
in  argument  there  by  Jeremiah  Black  and  James 
A.  Garfield.  The  court  held  that  there  was  no 
jurisdiction  in  a  military  commission  to  try  people 
of  Indiana,  for  the  reasons  that  Indiana  was  not 
within  the  theatre  of  war,  and  that  civil  govern 
ment  was  in  full  operation  within  its  borders.  The 
prisoners,  at  the  time  in  the  Columbus  (Ohio) 
penitentiary,  were  of  course  discharged. 

Lambdin  P.  Milligan,  while  in  the  prison,  had 
£>een  set  to  work  in  a  paint  shop,  and,  claiming  to 
have  been  poisoned  with  lead,  upon  his  release 
brought  suit  for  damages  against  James  R.  Slack 
and  twenty-two  defendants,  amongst  whom  nota 
bly  were  General  A.  P.  Hovey,  Joseph  Holt,  Judge 
Advocate  General  of  the  United  States  Army,  and 


THE   LAWYER.  95 

Oliver  P.  Morton,  Governor  of  Indiana.  The 
proceeding  was  begun  in  the  Common  Pleas  Court 
of  Huntington  county,  Indiana ;  subsequently,  on 
petition  of  General  James  R.  Slack  and  others,  it 
was  transferred  to  the  United  States  Circuit  Court 
for  the  district  of  Indiana. 

General  Benjamin  Harrison  appeared  as  an 
assistant  in  the  defense,  under  appointment  of 
President  Grant.  Judge  Drummond  presided  at 
the  hearing. 

The  trial  excited  great  public  interest,  as  at 
that  time  the  echoes  of  the  war  were  still  dis 
tinctly  heard.  The  rulings  of  the  Supreme  Court 
were  of  course  imperative  upon  Judge  Drum- 
mend;  and  there  having  been  no  jurisdiction  in 
the  military  commission,  there  was  a  technical 
right  of  recovery.  This  the  defendants  recog 
nized,  and  confined  themselves  to  mitigation  of 
damages. 

That  the  contest  was  exciting  may  be  justly  in 
ferred  from  the  fact  that  it  was  chiefly  between 
Governor  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  for  the  prose 
cution,  and  General  Harrison,  for  the  defendants. 
The  sympathies  of  the  former  were  for  his  client 
on  principle,  for,  if  not  himself  a  Son  of  Liberty, 
he  was  the  father  of  the  idea  of  a  separate  North 
western  Confederacy.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
defendants  were  all  personal  friends  of  the  latter, 
while  some  of  them  had  been  his  comrades  in 
arms.  Governor  Hendricks  felt  the  intensity  of 


96  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  prejudice  existing  against  his  client,  but  went 
through  the  ordeal  with  unflinching  zeal  and 
courage.  General  Harrison  rested  his  plea  of 
mitigation  upon  the  treasonable  acts  of  the  plain 
tiff  and  his  associate  Sons  of  Liberty,  and  his 
struggle  with  the  presiding  judge  was  at  times 
severe.  To  a  suggestion  from  the  court  that  he 
should  cease  further  introduction  of  witnesses, 
Harrison  replied  that  he  would  of  course  stop 
when  ordered  to,  but  so  far  as  it  was  a  matter  in 
his  discretion  as  counsel  he  should  continue  to 
offer  further  proof.  He  succeeded  in  getting  of 
record  the  whole  story  of  the  treason ;  then  the 
case  went  to  the  jury. 

General  Harrison's  argument  was  as  follows : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury :  The  case  you  have  been  called 
to  try  is  a  legacy  of  the  war.  It  has  brought  back  to 
our  minds  with  vividness  the  vicissitudes  and  anxieties 
of  that  protracted  struggle  for  national  life.  You  have 
heard  not  of  personal  controversies,  or  of  commerce  or 
trade,  but  of  historic  events,  of  war,  of  State  invasion,  of 
gigantic  and  treasonable  conspiracies  against  the  public 
peace.  The  acts  of  which  the  plaintiff  complains  were 
done  by  the  defendants  in  the  character  of  public  officers. 
They  were  United  States  soldiers,  who  had  heard  the 
cry  of  national  distress,  and  with  brave,  true  hearts,  had 
forsaken  all  and  dared  all,  that  they  might  preserve  us  a 
Nation.  Some  of  them  are  the  maimed  survivors  of  that 
struggle.  By  the  blessing  of  God  upon  their  valor  the 
supremacy  of  the  constitution  and  laws  was  asserted  and 
restored.  And  now  they  are  assailed,  under  the  shield 
of  that  constitution  and  those  laws,  in  a  court  whose  con 
tinued  existence  is  due  to  them  and  their  associates  in 
arms,  and  that  too  by  one  who  compassed  the  destruc- 


THE    LAWYER.  97 

tion  of  that  charter  of  liberty  and  personal  right  from 
which  he  now  draws  his  weapons  of  attack. 

I  was  saying  that  the  acts  complained  of  here  on  the 
part  of  the  defendants  were  acts  of  an  official  character. 
They  were  not  private  injuries,  nor  trespasses,  or  wrongs 
committed  through  spite,  but  they  were  official  acts. 
General  Hovey,  as  commander  of  this  military  district, 
arrested  the  plaintiff.  The  commissioners  who  sat  upon 
the  trial  of  the  case  were  soldiers  of  the  Union,  sworn  to 
obey  their  superior  officers,  and  acted  upon  such  dis 
cretion  as  was  left  them  under  their  official  oaths  to  do 
their  duty  under  the  orders  of  the.  government.  These 
gentlemen  had  been  summoned  to  sit  on  this  commission. 
Could  they  have  refused  to  perform  that  duty?  The 
command  was  an  imperative  one,  and  a  refusal  to  obey 
would  have  been  treated  as  being  as  grave  an  offence  and 
as  conspicuous  disregard  of  military' duty  as  a  refusal  to 
march  at  the  trumpet  call.  What  is  the  duty  of  a 
soldier  ? 

*;  His  not  to  reason  why, 
His  not  to  make  reply, 
His  but  to  do  or  die.''' 

I  do  not  pretend  that  the  order  of  any  military  com 
mander  could  compel  a  court-martial  to  find  a  verdict  of 
guilty  or  not  guilty,  but  the  duty  of  this  court-martial 
was  to  sit  through  the  trial,  and  hear  the  evidence  and 
pronounce  a  judgment  upon  it  in  accordance  with  then- 
conscientious  convictions.  Had  any  one  of  the  gentle 
men  composing  that  court  refused  upon  receiving  his 
detail  as  a  member  to  serve,  he  would  have  been  himself 
liable  to  trial  before  a  court-martial  for  disobedience  of 
orders. 

I  shall  speak  to  you  presently  upon  the  question  whether 
the  evidence  before  the  commission  was  sufficient  to  sup 
port  their  finding,  and,  if  it  was,  then  I  shall  claim  for 
them  at  your  hands  a  full  exculpation. 

At  the  outset,  then,  I  remark  that  this  case  is  one 
which  every  man  feels,  in  his  heart,  ought  not  ever  to 
have  been  commenced.  This  is  not  only  the  expression 


98  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

of  private  feeling,  but  both  Congress  and  the  Legislature 
of  this  State  have  expressed,  in  the  form  of  law,  their 
opinion  that  such  actions  as  this  ought  not  to  be  brought. 
The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  early  as  1863,  and 
in  several  statutes  passed  since,  have  declared  the  opinion 
that  when  an  officer,  during  a  war,  acting  in  good  faith 
under  an  order  of  the  President,  has  made  an  arrest  in 
the  interest  of  public  peace  and  for  the  national  security, 
he  ought  not  afterward  to  be  dragged  before  a  jury  to  be 
amerced  in  damages.  The  Legislature  of  this  State,  by 
a  statute  passed  in  the  year  1867,  have  expressed  a  like 
opinion,  and  enacted  .that  where  such  an  action  was 
brought,  the  damages  should  in  no  case  exceed  five  dol 
lars.  I  do  not  speak  to  you  for  the  purpose  of  discussing 
questions  of  law  ;  questions  of  law  the  court  will  .deter 
mine.  I  speak  of  the  simple  fact  that  Congress  and  our 
Legislature  have  both  spoken  in  harmony  with  that  feel 
ing  which  arises  in  every  true  man's  heart  when  he  hears 
of  cases  like  the  present  one — the  feeling  that  they  ought 
not  to  be  brought.  If  this  plaintiff,  by  his  own  fault — 
by  having  become  a  party  to  a  treasonable  and  wicked 
conspiracy — drew  upon  himself  this  arrest,  then  he 
should  be  content  that  he  has  suffered  but  a  part  of  the 
penalty  of  the  great  wrong  that  he  contemplated. 

There  are  persons  walking  to-day  free  and  untram- 
meled  through  this  whole  land,  who  sought  during  the 
war,  by  secret  conspiracy  and  overt  violence,  to  destroy 
the  Union — even  since  this  trial  began  we  have  heard  of 
the  great  leader  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  publicly 
addressing  his  fellow-citizens  of  the  South.  He  walks 
unrestrained,  and  is  yet  attempting  as  far  as  in  him  lies 
to  rekindle  the  fires  of  revolution.  How  grand  has  been 
the  magnanimity  of  our  government!  Look  at  human 
history  from  its  beginning  until  now,  and  show  me  on 
its  pages  anything  that  can  compare  with  the  sublime 
magnanimity  of  the  American  Government  towards  its 
domestic  enemies.  Among  the  crimes  against  mankind 
this  rebellion  stands  supreme.  In  lands  where  oppres 
sion  has  crushed  the  people  to  the  dust,  revolution  has 
often  shown  itself  in  the  assertion  of  right  principles  of 


THE  LAWYER.  gg 

Government,  and  in  the  struggle  towards  that  which  our 
fathers  attained  here  in  the  American  Republic.  This 
we  have  seen.  But  it  was  reserved  for  traitors  in  Amer 
ica — for  citizens  debauched  by  long  connection  with  the 
institution  of  slavery— to  kindle  a  war  against  the  Gov 
ernment  whose  hand  had  never  been  felt  by  them  except 
as  it  conferred  blessings  upon  them.  After  their  great 
crime  these  men  are  free  to-day.  The  nation  has  covered 
them  with  the  mantle  of  forgetfulness  and  amnesty. 
And  is  it  too  much  to  ask  that  acts  like  those  complained 
of  in  the  present  case,  which  are  only  the  consequences 
the  plaintiff  brought  upon  himself  by  previous  acts  of 
treasonable  conspiracy  against  the  Government — that 
they  shall  be  covered  with  the  same  mantle  ? 

If  the  men  who  sought  with  bloody  hand  and  by 
treasonable  ^conspiracy  to  destroy  the  na-tion  shall  go 
free,  shall  they  who  spent  their  blood  to  save  it  from 
destruction  be  arraigned  before  a  jury  of  the  country 
and  amerced  in  damages  for  doing  the  acts  which  the 
defendants  did  ? 

The  charges  against  the  plaintiff,  upon  which  he  was 
put  upo;i  trial  before  the  Military  Commission,  were  of 
the  gravest  character.  If  he  was  guilty  of  them  death 
was  the  mildest  punishment  that  should  have  been 
visited  upon  him.  If  he,  a  citizen  of  this  State,  dwelling 
here  under  the  beneficent  protection  of  our  State  gov- 
ernment,  remote  from  the  institution  of  slavery,  which 
was  the  spring  of  treason  and  the  corner-stone  of  re 
bellion  ;  if  he,  dwelling  here,  engaged  with  others  in  a 
direct  conspiracy  against  the  government,  and  lent  his 
sympathies,  not  to  the  defenders  of  our  bleeding  country, 
but  to  rebels  ;  if  he  did  not  only  all  this,  but  sought  to 
turn  loose  the  dogs  of  war  within  our  peaceful  States, 
corresponding  secretly  with  the  enemies  of  the  country, 
and  invited  them  to  our  soil  instead  of  arraying  himself 
against  them  ;  if  he,  conspiring  against  the  peace  of  our 
State,  stood  upon  our  soil  and  sent  out  his  voice  to 
rebels  across  the  river— if  he  did  all  this,  then  I  say  that 
death,  ignominious  death,  was  the  least  punishment 
which  any  true  man  would  say  ought  to  have  been 


100  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

visited  upon  him.  Did  the  officers  who  arrested  him, 
and  the  court  that  tried  him,  have  reason  to  believe  him 
guilty  of  these  crimes  ? 

These  offenses  grew  out  of,  and  were  connected  with, 
a  secret  order  known  at  different  times  by  different 
names,  but  having  the  same  officers,  the  same  member 
ship,  and  the  same  design.  What  were  the  purposes  of 
that  secret  order?  Gentlemen,  its  history  is  a  black 
page  in  the  history  of  Indiana,  and  yet  we  are  compelled 
to  turn  our  minds  to  the  consideration  of  it  for  a  brief 
moment.  Far  rather  would  I  call  into  review  before  you 
those  pages  of  our  Nation's  history  which  have  been  made 
glorious  by  a  record  of  the  exploits  of  Indiana  soldiers 
in  the  field ;  but  for  the  present  let  us  look,  painful  as  is 
the  duty,  at  this  page  made  black  with  treason.  What 
were  the  purposes  of  this  secret  order?  \Ve  could  not 
expect  to  find  them  plainly  stated  in  its  rituals  or  oaths. 
Such  purposes  always  wear  a  cloak ;  yet  we  may  hope 
to  find  in  these  rituals  something  which  may  furnish  a 
clue.  We  may  hope  now  and  then  to  peep  through  the 
cloak  in  which  treason  wrapped  itself,  and  see  some 
thing  of  its  hideous  lineaments.  We  read  in  these  ritu 
als  a  good  deal  about  education  and  literature,  and  we 
hear,  at  least  in  one  of  its  councils,  that  the  subject  of 
establishing  a  great  university  in  which  the  political 
lessons  of  the  order  were  to  be  taught  was  gravely  dis 
cussed.  The  distinguished  Senator  (Mr.  Hendricks)  has 
called  attention  to  the  testimony  of  some  of  the  witnesses 
in  regard  to  this  matter,  as  if  he  would  have  you  believe 
that  it  was  really  one  of  the  purposes  of  the  order.  Will 
you  believe,  gentlemen,  for  one  moment,  that  the  estab 
lishment  of  newspapers,  the  cultivation  of  letters,  or  the 
founding  of  a  university  was  ever  in  the  serious  con 
templation  of  its  members?  That  is  too  thin  a  disguise 
to  hide  the  face  of  treason. 

There  is  in  the  obligations,  at  least  in  one  of  .them,  the 
vow  not  to  reveal  any  of  the  contemplated  designs  of 
the  order,  and  it  proves  that  there  was  something  con 
templated  not  revealed  in  the  books.  Then  we  find,  in 
the  next  place,  another  vow  not  to  reveal  secrets  com- 


THE    LAWYER.    '  lOI 

municated  by  a  brother  of  the  order,  but  rather  than  do 
so  to  suffer  death.  Now  what  were  these  secrets  which, 
when  communicated  to  a  brother,  he  was  to  hold  sacred 
under  a  penalty  of  death  ?  We  find  also  another  obliga 
tion  not  to  reveal  any  conjectured  purpose.  When  these 
men,  many  of  them  deceived,  were  brought  into  the 
vestibule  of  the  order,  where  only  some  general  political 
lessons  were  shown,  they  took  an  oath  not  to  reveal  a 
conjectured  purpose,  and  as  they  acquired  the  degrees, 
and  the  darkness  of  the  designs  of  the  order  dawned 
upon  them,  that  oath  was  there  as  a  safeguard  against 
disclosures  and  to  constrain  them  to  conceal  purposes 
not  exposed  in  the  books.  Now,  gentlemen,  what  were 
those  purposes  ?  I  insist  that  in  the  rituals  of  the  order 
there  is  to  be  found  a  muster-in  oath  into  the  Southern 
army.  I  shall  read  you  presently  what,  as  you  now  look 
back  and  recall  public  events,  can  have  no  other  mean 
ing.  And  I  charge  it  upon  them  to-day  that,  as  one  of 
the  effects  of  the  obligations  assumed  by  them  in  their 
ritual,  the  members  of  the  order  of  American  Knights,  or 
Sons  of  Liberty,  were  mustered  in  as  soldiers  of  the  Con 
federate  army  in  the  State  of  Indiana. 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  obligation  taken  by 
a  "  Neophyte,"  read  from  the  ritual  of  the  order : 

"  I  do  further  promise  that  I  will,  at  all  times,  if  needs 
be,  take  up  arms  in  the  cause  of  the  oppressed — in  my 
country  first  of  all — against  any  Monarch,  Prince,  Poten 
tate,  Power  or  Government  usurped,  which  may  be 
found  in  arms,  and  waging  war  against  a  people  or  peo 
ples,  who  are  endeavoring  to  establish,  or  have  inaug 
urated,  a  Government  for  themselves  of  their  own  free 
choice,  in  accordance  with,  and  founded  upon,  the  eternal 
principles  of  Truth  which  I  have  sworn  in  the  V,  and 
now  in  this  presence  do  swear,  to  maintain  inviolate,  and 
defend  with  my  life.  This  I  do  promise,  without  reser 
vation  or  evasion  of  mind ;  without  regard  to  the  name, 
station,  condition  or  destination  of  the  invading  or  co 
ercing  power,  whether  it  shall  arise  within  or  come  from 
without." 

Who  were  the  "  oppressed  "  people  in  whose  behalf 


IO2  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  Neophyte,  coming  in  through  the  vestibule  of  Ihe 
temple,  upon  bended  knee,  swore  to  take  up  arms  ?  Who 
were  the  people  oppressed  by  an  usurper  ?  Which  the 
States  against  whom  a  usurper  was  waging  war  ?  Answer 
it  upon  your  oaths,  gentlemen.  Do  you  doubt  that  the 
persons  taking  that  oath  on  bended  knee  did  not  under 
stand  it  as  binding  them  to  take  up  arms  on  behalf  of 
the  rebel  Confederacy  ?  It  can  mean  nothing  less.  No 
man  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  times  can  believe 
otherwise  of  it.  The  oath  was  a  muster-in  oath,  and  he 
who  took  it  was  as  much  a  recruit  of  Jefferson  Davis' 
army  as  if  he  had  been  actually  in  the  army  of  the  rebel 
States.  If  he  regarded  his  obligations,  if  he  meant  to 
perform  his  vows,  he  was  as  much  a  servant  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  and  as  much  bound  to  obey  his  orders  as  if 'he 
had  been  mustered  into  the  army  of  Lee  then  confront 
ing  Grant  at  Richmond. 

Major  Gordon  showed  you  plainly  that  the  political 
doctrines  upon  which  the  South  took  up  arms  against 
the  government  are  as  plainly  stated  and  announced  in 
these  rituals  as  they  ever  were  in  any  political  conven 
tion.  The  supremacy  of  the  general  government  is 
utterly  denied  in  them.  Supremacy — sovereignty — is 
declared  to  be  in  the  States.  Any  attempt  to  resist  or 
thwart  the  resolutions  of  any  of  the  States  is  declared 
to  be  usurpation  and  a  crime. 

But  further  than  this,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to 
swear  to  take  up  arms  in  behalf  of  the  Confederacy,  the 
ritual  contains  an  oath  binding  upon  every  man  who 
entered  the  order,  not  to  serve  in  the  armies  of  the 
United  States.  Let  me  read  to  you,  for  a  moment,  from 
the  ritual :  "  That  my  sword  shall  ever  be  drawn  in  sup 
port  of  the  right,  and  that  I  will  never  take  up  arms  in 
any  case  as  a  mercenary."  Now,  in  the  light  of  the 
public  proclamations,  editorials  and  speeches  issued  by 
these  men,  who  were  the  soldiers  of  the  United  States  ? 
They  were  "Lincoln  hirelings" — they  were  "merce 
naries."  Tell  me  if  those  were  not  the  familiar  names 
by  which  the  Federal  troops  were  known  and  designated 
NTC  in  Indiana  by  the  men  who  had  no  sympathy  for 
the  cause  for  whicr  those  troops  were  fighting. 


THE    LAWYER.  1 03 

What  did  the  man  who  took  this  obligation  understand 
it  to  mean  if  not  that  he  was  swearing  never  to  serve  in 
the  army  of  the  United  States?  While  loyal  men  were 
going  up  and  down  the  land  exhorting  their  fellow-citi 
zens  to  come  to  the  defense  of  the  Union,  these  Sons  of 
Liberty  were  dragging  the  young  and  unsuspecting  into 
their  ranks-. 

Here,  then,  we  have  in  the  ritual  of  this  secret  order 
an  oath,  on  the  one  hand,  never  to  take  up  arms  in  de 
fense  of  the   government,  and,  on   the  other,  a   muster 
oath   into  the   service   of  the  rebel  government     That 
more  than  a  political  organization  was  contemplated  is 
plain    from    another    fact — all    cripples    were    excluded. 
The  person  admitted  took  an  obligation  never  to  intro 
duce  a  cripple  or  person  of  unsound  mind  into  the  order. 
The  one-armed  or  the  one-legged  cripple  had  as  much 
political  influence,  as  much  political  power,  as  the  man 
who  had  all  the  limbs  which  God  had  given  him,  and  it 
was  as  important  that  he  should  be  properly  instructed 
in  correct  political  principles.     Should  a  poor  cripple  be 
excluded  from  participation  in  the  order,  if  it  was  merely 
a  political  organization,  because,  perchance,  he  had  lost 
a  limb  while  serving  his  country  ?     What  did  this  mean, 
gentlemen  ?     They  who  took  the  obligation  understood 
it  to  mean   that  they  were  to  do  military  service ;  and 
just  as  the  mustering  officer  of  the  United  States  stripped 
the  recruit  and  examined  him  to  see  if  he  was  able  for 
the  fray,  so   these   men   swore  not  to  admit  into  their 
organization  any  man  who  would  be  unfit  for  the  strife 
when  the  strife  contemplated  should  come.     They  ex 
cluded  the  African,  too.     It  was  a  very  great  work   of 
supererogation   to   do   that;   for  if  there  was   ever  any 
negro  in  Indiana  so  degraded  as  to  ask  for  political  asso 
ciation  with  such  men,  I  have  never  heard  of  the  fact. 
There  were  none  of  that  kind,  degraded,  as  many  had 
been,  by  years   of  servitude.     I   never  have   seen,  nor 
heard,  nor  read  of  one,  either  here  or  down  in  the  South, 
whose  heart  did  not  always  beat  in  response  to  the  music 
of  the  Union.     I   never   heard   of,  never  met  one  who 
was  not  the  friend  of  the  Union  soldier.      Instances   are 


IO4  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

plenty — the  history  of  our  war  is  full  of  them — where 
our  men,  fleeing  from  Southern  prison  pens,  crippled, 
exhausted,  famished,  owed  their  lives  to  the  faithful  and 
unswerving  loyalty  of  black  men.  One  of  the  meanest 
things  in  this  whole  order,  one  of  the  meanest  political 
sentiments  it  ever  uttered,  was  its  constant  expression 
of  hatred  of  the  negroes.  Some  of  you  may  have  seen 
a  little  poem  by  John  Hay,  which,  though  rough  in  lan 
guage,  strikes  a  chord  in  every  true  man's  heart,  and 
gives  the  strongest  rebuke  to  the  unworthy  feeling  of 
which  I  am  speaking. 

Sergeant  Tilman  Joy,  a  resident  of  "  Spunky  Pint,"  in 
the  State  of  "  Illanoy,"  and  a  Democrat,  heard  his  coun 
try's  call,  and 

"Laid  his  politics  out  of  the  way 
For  to  keep  till  the  war  was  through." 

Then  he  sought  his  home,  bringing  with  him  "  Banty 
Tim,"  a  colored  boy.  His  old  political  associates  as 
sembled  (whether  in  a  lodge  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  or 
in  open  Democratic  convention  is  not  disclosed)  and  re 
solved  (you  may  have  heard  the  sentiment  before)  that 
"This  is  a  white  man's  country."  The  conclusion,  as 
communicated  to  Sergeant  Joy  by  a  committee,  was  that 

"  The  nigger  has  got  to  mosey 
From  the  limits  of  Spunky  Pint." 

The  Sergeant  tells  them  a  story  of  Vickburg.  How, 
when  our  left  struck  the  heights  and  were  repulsed,  he 
was  left  wounded,  almost  dying  o-n  the  glacis,  unsheltered 
from  the  blistering  Southern  sun.  And  here  I  must 
give  you  the  story  in  the  touching  language  of  the 
author: 

"  Till  along  toward  dusk  I  saw  a  thing, 

I  couldn't  believe  for  a  spell : 
That  nigger — that  Tim — was  a  crawlin'  to  me 

Through  that  fire-proof,  gilt-edged  hell ! 
The  rebels  saw  him  as  quick  as  me, 

And  the  bullets  buzzed  like  bees; 
But  he  jumped  fer  me,  and  shouldered  me, 

Though  a  shut  brought  him  once  to  his  knees; 


THE    LAWYER.  10$ 

But  he  staggered  up  and  packed  me  off, 

With  a  dozen  stumbles  and  fails, 
Till  safe  in  our  lines  he  dropped  us  both, 

His  black  hide  riddled  with  balls." 

Here,  in  this  rough  picture,  we  have  the  true,  honest 
sentiment  of  a  man  conscious  of  patriotic  obligation  and 
who  is  willing  to  stand  up  for  the  friend  of  his  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  obligations  of  this  order  I 
have  read  to  you,  we  have  not  only  outspoken  hatred 
against  the  black  man,  but  against  all  who  stood  by  the 
flag  and  its  defenders. 

But,  after  all,  as  we  could  not  expect  to  have  them 
written  plainly  in  their  books,  we  must  look  to  the 
acts  of  the  founders  and  managers  of  this  organization 
to  ascertain  its  true  purposes. 

The  court  will  tell  you  that  the  law  of  conspiracy  is 
that  if  two  or  more  agree  and  combine  to  do  an  unlaw 
ful  act,  and  it  be  shown  either  by  express  words  or  by 
conduct  pointing  in  the  common  direction  when  the 
agreement  and  common  consent  of  the  mind  to  do  the 
act  is  established,  each  man  is  answerable  for  every  word 
and  for  every  deed  of  those  with  whom  he  has  thus  con 
spired  in  furtherance  of  the  common  design.  Ke*ep  in 
mind,  gentlemen,  while  we  trace  the  connection  of  Milli- 
gan  with  this  secret  order,  that  if  we  once  bring  him  into 
connection  with,  and  to  an  assent  of  mind  to,  the  great 
crime  that  was  contemplated  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  he 
then  becomes  responsible  in  the  eye  of  the  law  for  every 
word  and  every  act  which  Bowles  or  Bullitt  or  Dodd 
said  or  did  in  execution  of  the  common  treasonable 
object. 

Touching  the  purpose  of  the  order,  as  drawn  from 
the  declarations  of  its  members,  we  have  from  Dr.  Wil 
son  a  statement  of  them  as  given  in  a  meeting  of  the 
Grand  Council  held  in  Indianapolis  in  November,  1864. 
Now,  Dr.  Wilson  is  not  a  friend  or  associate  of  either  of 
the  defendants  in  this  cause ;  I  think  I  may  even  say 
that  he  does  not  come  here  with  his  mind  at  all  prepos 
sessed  in  favor  of  U.iion  soldiers.  On  the  contrary,  he 
comes  reluctantly,  an  associate,  co-conspirator  and  friend 


106  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

of  the  plaintiff!  He  comes  because  brought  here  by  the 
process  of  this  court.  He  comes  not  yet  weaned  from 
his  allegiance  to  the  organization  of  which  the  plaintiff 
was  a  member,  for  here,  on  the 'witness  stand,  before 
you,  he  has  declared  that  in  the  principles  and  purposes 
of  this  order  he  yet  finds  that  which  commended  itself 
to  his  heart  and  conscience.  Will  the  Senator  (Mr. 
Hendricks)  assail  Dr.  Wilson  ?  Is  he  a  credible  wit 
ness  ?  Much  of  the  testimony  that  we  have  brought  be 
fore  you  has  been  peculiar  in  that  we  have  had  to  go 
into  the  camp  of  these  traitors  and  bring  them  from  it  to 
tell  you  of  their  treason.  Dr.  Wilson  says  that  in  the 
meeting  held  in  November,  1864,  at  which  Milligan  was 
present,  as  confessed  by  himself  and  testified  to  by  other 
witnesses,  the  designs  of  the  order  were  plainly  stated 
by  Mr.  Wright.  The  Senator  will  try  to  make  you  be 
lieve  that  that  was  at  the  September  meeting,  and  not  at 
the  November  meeting,  because  a  witness,  Harrison, 
thinks  that  it  was  in  September  Wright  was  here  giving 
his  lessons,  but  we  have  Wilson's  positive  testimony  that 
it  was  in  November.  He  swore  to  it  before  the  Military 
Commission,  and  he  swears  to  the  same  thing  here.  He 
swears  that  Milligan  was  present.  I  read  now  from  the 
testimony  of  James  B.  Wilson,  as  reported  in  the  journal: 

u  I  was  present  at  Indianapolis  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Grand  Council,  in  November,  1863,  within  a  month  or 
two  after  I  went  into  the  order.  I  think  there  was  a 
Military  Committee  appointed  at  that  meeting,  and  that 
Mr.  Dodd  delivered  a  speech  to  the  Council  or  to  the 
members  of  it.  I  think  lie  said  something  about  seizing 
railroads,  cutting  telegraph  lines  and  driving  away  the 
State  government.  I  could  not  repeat  any  of  the  words 
he  said.  He  intimated,  I  think,  something  about  taking 
possession  of  the  railroads ;  that  that  could  be  done  and 
the  telegraph  wires  cut,  and  that  any  movement  that 
might  be  contemplated  by  the  order  could  in  that  way 
be  carried  out  without  interference  from  the  State 
authorities.  I  think  about  fifty  persons  were  present 
when  he  made  that  statement." 

I  will  not  tire  you  by  reading  further.     You  will  re- 


THE    LAWYER.  IO7 

member  the  witness  stating  that  the  overthrow  of  che 
State  government  was  contemplated,  and  that  when  that 
design  was  consummated  the  Committee  of  Thirteen  was 
tc  assume  control  of  the  State.  Dodd  was  to' be  Gover 
nor,  and  the  other  State  offices  were  to  be  filled  from  the 
committee  named. 

Here,  then,  is  the  testimony  of  a  witness  unfriendly  to 
these  defendants  and  a  political  and  personal  friend  and 
associate  of  the  plaintiff,  a  member  of  this  order,  bound 
to  Mr.  Hendricks'  client  by  the  obligations  solemnly 
sworn  to,  giving  us  its  purposes  as  declared  in  a  public 
meeting  by  its  Grand  Commander — a  public  meeting, 
too,  as  I  shall  show  you  presently,  at  which  the  plaintiff 
Milligan  was  present. 

Then,  in  the  very  first  State  meeting  of  the  order,  its 
Grand  Commander  publicly  declared  it  an  object  of  his 
society  to  aid  the  rebels  of  the  South  by  overthrowing 
the  State  government,  and  the  authority  of  the  National 
government  within  the  State,  and  in  their  place  establish 
ing  another  government  in  sympathy  with  the  rebel 
government  in  the  Southern  States. 

Another  purpose  declared  at  that  meeting  and  at 
Chicago  was  to  release  the  rebel  prisoners,  five  thousand 
of  whom  were  in  camp  here,  watched  by  a  small  guard. 
They  were  an  army  brought  here  from  the  front  through 
the  successful  valor  of  our  armies,  some  from  Vicks- 
burg  and  some  from  other  fields  of  victory  in  the  South. 
They  were  to  be  released  and  turned  into  our  streets  to 
begin  here  the  work  of  destruction  and  outrage  which 
had  marked  their  course  everywhere  that  they  *rod  upon 
the  soil  of  the  loyal  States. 

Gentlemen,  the  guilt,  the  horrid  guilt,  of  men  who 
could  contemplate  turning  loose  into  the  streets  of  our 
beautiful  city  five  thousand  enraged  prisoners,  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  to  begin  the  work  of  rapine  and  blood 
cannot  be  expressed  in  words.  It  was  a  purpose  con 
ceived  in  devilish  malignity.  The  man  who  could  cherish 
such  a  purpose,  who  could  take  a  step  in  its  execution — 
what  does  he  not  deserve  of  punishment  at  the  hands  of 
those  against  whose  lives  and  homes  and  property  he 


108  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

plotted  ?  We  had  prisoners  starving  for  years  in  some 
of  the  prison  pens  of  the  South,  but  if  ever  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  men  belonging  to  this  order  were  moved 
in  their  behalf  there  is  no  record  of  it  in  this  case  or  in 
history. 

Another  purpose  disclosed  was  the  destruction  of  gov 
ernment  property.  The  government  had  collected  in 
warehouses  immense  stores  which  were  being  sent  for 
ward  to  supply  the  army  in  its  contemplated  campaigns. 
The  railroads  traversing  our  country  and  the  steam 
boats  navigating  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  were 
loaded  with  these  stores,  the  destruction  of  which  was 
sufficient  sometimes  to  thwart  a  great  operation.  Still 
another  of  the  objects  of  the  order,  as  disclosed  here, 
was  to  put  aboard  our  steamboats,  freighted  with  stores 
and  yet  more  precious  lives,  their  infernal  machines, 
which,  in  the  night  time,  when  men  slept,  should  kindle 
fires  and  bring  destruction  to  life  and  property.  This 
was  a  purpose  canvassed  and  actually  listened  to  with 
approbation  by  such  men  as  Bowles,  and  Milligan,  and 
Dodd,  and  Horsey,  and  Humphries,  and  Dr.  Wilson 
himself,  who  tells  you  of  it.  It  was  listened  to  as  one 
would  listen  to  the  common  details  of  a  business  affair. 
The  per  cent,  that  was  to  be  paid  for  this  infamous  ser 
vice  by  the  rebel  government,  out  of  money  stolen  from 
our  paymasters,  was  definitely  fixed,  and  it  was  boasted 
that  already  government  property  had  been  thus  de 
stroyed. 

Is  not  language  utterly  powerless  to  express  the  ab 
horrence,  the  utter  detestation  which  an  honest  heart 
must  feel  against  monsters  who  could  conceive  such  pur 
poses  as  these  ?  Mr.  Hendricks  talked  to  us  a  little  in 
his  opening  speech  of  the  horrible  character  of  the  pro 
ceedings  before  the  Military  Commission.  I  wish  I 
might  arouse  him  to  a  like  abhorrence  of  this  horrible  con 
spiracy,  and  I  shall  look,  gentlemen,  to  see  if,  in  his  con 
cluding  speech,  he  will  not  employ  that  gift  of  language 
and  eloquence  with  which  he  has  been  endowed  in  de 
nouncing  it. 

We  have  seen  that  at  Chicago  Judge  Bullitt,  of  Kentucky, 


THE    LAWYER. 


Bowles,  Dodd,  Wilson  and  others  assembled,  discussed 
projects  like  those  I  have  described  as  coolly  as  we  would 
a  transaction  in  real  estate.  Where  were  their  con 
sciences  and  moral  nature  ?  There  is  not  a  villain  in  a 
penitentiary,  North  or  South,  whose  heart  ever  com 
passed  or  whose  hand  was  ever  reached  out  to  execute  a 
plan  so  utterly  hellish  as  this.  That  a  man  who  had 
conceived  such  plots,  and  who  was  only  prevented  from 
sharing  in  their  execution  by  being  taken  into  custody, 
and  held  for  trial,  by  patriotic  officers  of  the  government, 
can  come  into  our  court  rooms  and  sit  here,  day  after 
day,  seeking  to  recover  damages  against  them,  is  an 
amazing  instance  of  clemency.  Whatever  purpose  Lee, 
Beauregard,  or  John  Morgan  and  the  marauding  gue 
rillas  who  operated  through  the  border  States  under 
him,  might  put  upon  them  to  accomplish,  these  conspira 
tors  were  organized  to  accomplish.  Whatever  purpose 
they  had,  these  men  had.  Not  Grant,  not  Sherman,  not 
the  brave  men  who  stood  with  Indiana  regiments  in  de 
fense  of  our  government,  were  the  friends  of  Bowles,  and 
Milligan,  and  Humphreys,  and  Horsey.  Their  friends 
were  the  enemies  of  the  country. 

Consider  next  the  condition  of  things  at  that  time  in 
our  army.  Sherman,  in  the  spring  of  1864,  started  on 
his  grand  campaign  to  the  sea;  and  from  May  until  the 
2d  of  September  he  was  toilsomely  marching  from  Chat 
tanooga  to  Atlanta,  his  way  marked  with  the  graves  of 
his  intrepid  soldiers,  killed  by  the  sympathizers  and  as 
sociates  of  this  plaintiff.  Grant,  starting  about  the  same 
time,  was  making  his  difficult  and  bloody  march  through 
the  Wilderness  and  Spottsylvania  to  Petersburg.  The 
time  was  when  all  the  energies  of  our  people  were  upon 
a  strain,  when  every  patriotic  heart  was  filled  with  un 
utterable  anxiety  for  the  success  of  those  great  cam 
paigns.  It  was  at  the  very  crisis  of  our  country's  fate, 
these  conspirators,  here,  in  Indianapolis,  in  June,  the 
plaintiff  being  present,  as  I  shall  show  you,  were  devis 
ing  and  debating  schemes  intended  to  balk  our  armies, 
to  turn  back  the  tide  of  Union  victories. 

To  bring  to  your  minds  something  of  the  condition  of 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  country  at  that  time,  I  desire  to  read  to  you,  as  part 
of  my  speech,  a  communication  or  two  from  the  Generals 
commanding  the  armies  of  the  United  States: 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  August  16,  1864. 
To  HON.  E.  B.  WASHBURNE: 

Dear  Sir  :  I  state  to  all  citizens  who  visit  me  that  all  we  want  now  to 
insure  an  early  restoration  of  the  Union  is  a  determined  unity  of  sentiment 
North.  The  rebels  have  now  in  their  ranks  their  last  man.  The  little 
boys  and  old  men  are  guarding  prisoners,  guarding  railroad  bridges,  and 
forming  a  good  part  of  their  garrisons  for  intrenched  positions.  A  man 
lost  by  them  cannot  be  replaced.  They  have  robbed  the  cradle  and  the 
grave  equally  to  get  their  present  force.  Besides  what  they  lose  in  fre 
quent  skirmishes  and  battles,  they  are  now  losing  from  desertions  and 
other  causes  at  least  one  regiment  per  day. 

With  this  drain  upon  them,  the  end  is  not  far  distant,  if  we  will  only  be 
true  to  ourselves.  Their  only  hope  now,  is  a  divided  North.  This  might 
give  them  reinforcements  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Maryland  and  Mis 
souri,  while  it  would  weaken  us.  With  the  draft  quickly  enforced  the 
enemy  would  become  despondent,  and  would  make  but  little  resistance. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  the  enemy  are  exceedingly  anxiou  to  hold  out  until 
after  the  Presidential  election.  They  have  many  hopes  from  its  effects. 

They  hope  a  counter  revolution ;  they  hope  the  election  of  the  Peace 
candidate.  In  fact,  like  "  Micawber,"  they  hope  for  something  to  "turn 
up."  Our  Peace  friends,  if  they  except  peace  from  separation,  are  much 
mistaken.  It  would  but  be  the  beginning  of  war  with  thousands  of 
Northern  men  joining  the  South  because  of  our  disgrace  in  allowing  sepa 
ration.  To  have  "peace  on  any  terms"  the  South  would  demand  the 
restoration  of  their  slaves  already  freed ;  they  would  demand  indemnity 
for  losses  sustained,  and  they  would  demand  a  treaty  which  would  make 
the  North  slave-hunters  for  the  South.  They  would  demand  pay  for  the 
restoration  of  every  slave  escaping  to  the  North.  Yours  truly, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  September  14. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  Dix,  NEW  YORK  : 

Lieutenant-General  Grant  telegraphs  this  department  in  regard  to  the 
draft  as  follows : 

CITY  POINT,  10.30  A.  M.,  September  13. 
HON.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War  : 

We  ought  to  have  the  whole  number  of  men  called  for  by  the  Presi 
dent  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  Prompt  action  in  filling  our  armies 
will  have  more  effect  upon  the  enemy  than  a  victory  over  them.  They 
profess  to  believe  and  make  their  men  believe  there  is  such  a  party  North 
in  favor  of  recognizing  Southern  independence  that  the  draft  cannot  be 
enforced.  Let  them  be  undeceived. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant- General. 

The  following  despatch  is  from  the  present  General  of 
our  armies : 


THE    LAWYER.  Ill 

ATLANTA,  GA.,  6.30  p.  M.,  September  18. 
HON.   E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War  : 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  the  draft  will  be  enforced.  First,  we  want 
men ;  second,  they  come  as  privates  to  fill  up  our  old  and  tried  regiments, 
with  their  experienced  officers  already  on  hand ;  and  third,  because  the 
enforcement  of  the  law  will  manifest  a  power  resident  in  our  government 
equal  to  the  occasion.  Our  government,  though  a  Democracy,  should  in 
times  of  trouble  and  danger  he  able  to  wield  the  power  of  a  great  nation. 
All  well.  W.  T.  -SHERMAN,  Major- General. 

The  General-in-chief,  commanding  one  of  our  armies, 
then  in  the  immediate  theatre  of  its  operations,  now 
President  of  the  United  States,  speaking  from  his  official 
position,  thus  declared  that  the  hopes  of  the  Confederacy 
hung  on  the  movement  which  these  men  were  endeavor 
ing  to  inaugurate  in  the  State  of  Indiana.  Their  plans 
must  have  been  known ;  their  promises  to  kindle  a  re 
bellion  here  were  known  at  Richmond;  and  thus  that 
struggle  was  long  protracted  which  would  have  ended 
at  once  but  for  the  hope  held  out  that  our  home  govern 
ments  would  be  assailed  by  armed  forces  composed  of 
traitorous  citizens,  and  the  troops  recalled  from  the  front 
to  prevent  their  overthrow. 

I  have  read  these  brief  extracts  from  the  communica 
tions  of  the  great  Generals  who  were  leading  our  armies 
in  the  east  and  west,  to  show  you  how  much  the  success 
of  their  campaigns  depended  on  the  enforcement  of  the 
draft,  and  the  prompt  suppression  of  disorders  at  home. 
They  well  appreciated  the  importance  of  the  command 
that  General  Hovey  held,  and  the  help  that  would  come 
to  them  by  the  prompt  execution  of  the  draft  in  Indiana, 
and  the  suppression  of  resistance  to  the  National  author 
ity.  Here  then  was  the  Confederacy  stumbling  towards 
its  fall,  and  here  was  a  movement  on  foot  to  restore  its 
vigor  by  so  weakening  the  power  of  our  armies  that  they 
might  not  be'  able  to  maintain  themselves  in  the  field. 
The  painful  condition  of  affairs  at  that  time  through  the 
whole  country  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe.  It 
would  be  impossible  for  you  or  me  to  recall  the  anxiety, 
the  watchfulness  and  the  suspense  everywhere  to  be  seen 
in  the  country  in  1864.  The  old  mother  in  her  country 
home,  her  boys  all  gone,  plies  her  busy  needle,  and  with 


ii2  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

every  stitch  lifts  a  prayer  to  God  for  victory  and  for  the 
safety  of  her  boys.  The  old  father  following  again  the 
plough  which  he  had  long  left  to  be  guided  by  the  stal 
wart  hands  of  the  boy  now  gone,  as  he  turns  the  furrow, 
his  drooping  form  bent  to  unwonted  labor,  recalls  the 
features  of  that  boy,  and  longs  for  his  return,  yet  is 
willing  that  the  supreme'  sacrifice  of  the  loved  life  may 
be  made,  if  such  sacrifice  is  necessary  to  save  the  Union. 
Then,  when  the  old  people  gathered  around  the  fireside 
altar,  when  the  old  man  came  from  the  field,  and  the  old 
family  Bible  came  down  from  its  shelf,  and  they  bowed 
alone  before  God,  what  was  the  burden  of  prayer?  How 
the  old  man's  voice,  quivering  with  emotion,  lifted  itself 
toward  the  throne  of  grace  in  the  one  all-absorbing  sup 
plication  to  God  for  victory  and  the  quick  return  of  the 
absent  one.  And  how  many  houses  there  were  in  which 
lonely  wives  and  fatherless  little  ones  dragged  wearily 
on,  their  days  and  nights  full  of  painful  watching  and 
apprehension.  A  cloud  of  anxiety  seemed  settled  above 
their  roof.  The  provider  gone,  the  wife  is  doomed  to 
unaccustomed  toil.  And  then,  too,  there  were  times  in 
such  households  as  I  have  described,  when  sickness 
came,  and  the  child  stretched  upon  the  bed,  moaning  and 
tossing  with  fever,  asked  with  parched  lips  for  papa,  and 
when  he  would  come  home.  And  the  counterpart  of 
this  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes — where  the  soldier, 
hearing  the  news  from  home,  and  without  hope  of  release 
from  duties  in  the  field,  braced  his  heart,  wrung  as  it  was 
with  anguish  and  sorrow,  and  went  forward  to  meet  the 
enemy. 

These  are  no  fancy  pictures ;  they  are  only  imper 
fectly  drawn.  I  have  myself  seen  brave  men  by  the 
camp-fire  and  on  the  march  in  tears  at  such  news  from 
home,  yet  submitting  themselves  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
service. 

So,  all  over  the  land,  in  public  places  of  information, 
about  newspaper  offices,  the  anxious  crowds  gathered  to 
see  whether  the  painful  struggle  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
to  hear  whether  at  last  God  seemed  to  be  favorable  to  us 
in  the  strife.  And  then,  in  counterpart,  I  remember  well 


THE    LAWYER.  I  I  3 

a  hillside  I  looked  upon  only  three  days  after  Vallandig- 
ham  wrote  the  letter  of  the  I2th  of  June,  1864,  in  which 
he  told  his  friends  that  Sherman  was  brought  to  a  stand 
still  and  falling  back.  I  saw  at  Resaca  the  dead  that 
had  died  for  you  and  me.  Our  own  brave  boys,  who, 
only  a  half  hour  before,  I  had  seen  and  greeted  in  health 
and  life,  were  lying  there  all  mangled  and  lifeless.  And 
why  ?  Because  they  loved  their  country  and  were  not 
willing  that  traitors  should  trample  the  flag  in  the  dust. 
My  distinguished  friend  who  has  addressed  you  for  the 
plaintiff  in  this  case,  and  will  soon  speak  to  you  again, 
has  said  a  great  deal  about  the  horrible  character  of  the 
trial  of  his  client  before  the  Military  Commission,  and 
has  talked  a  great  deal  about  the  citizen  and  his  rights. 
Let  him  now  speak  an  honest  word  for  the  soldier.  Let 
him  tell  you  how  his  heart  burns  in  good  honest  sympathy 
with  the  men  who  stood  for  the  defense  of  his  country 
and  theirs.  There  were  other  scenes  of  the  war  besides 
those  witnessed  upon  the  battle-field  upon  which  men, 
could  not  look  without  emotion.  Down  yonder,  at  An- 
dersonville,  for  instance,  thousands  of  our  brave  boys  were 
guarded  in  a  pen  with  nothing  to  shield  them  from  the 
pitiless  sun,  in  rags  and  tatters,  starving  and  emaciated, 
until  they  were  wrecks  in  body  and  gibbering  idiots. 
Such  was  the  work  of  Milligan  and  his  co-conspirators 
of  the  North,  who,  by  holding  out  aid  and  comfort  to 
the  enemy,  protracted  the  war.  The  rebel  guards  who 
guarded  the  prison  at  Andersonville  did  not  more  bitterly 
hate  everything  that  was  loyal  than  did  he  and  his  asso 
ciates  here  in  Indiana. 

Gentlemen,  I  ask  your  attention  for  a  little  while  to 
the  question  whether  the  plaintiff  was  a  participant  in 
this  business  with  full  knowledge.  That  he  was  elected 
a  Major-General  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  is  not  denied, 
nor  is  it  pretended  that  he  ever  declined  the  office.  The 
whole  matter,  then,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  is  simply, 
did  he  have  information  of  his  election  ?  Three  other 
Major-Generals  were  elected  with  him,  and  if  they  all 
knew  the  fact,  how  singular  if  he  did  not.  Humph 
reys  admits  that  he  was  notified.  Bowles  knew  of  his 
8 


I  I  4  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

election,  and  John  C.  Walker  was  not  left  in  ignorance; 
he  actually  entered  on  the  duties  of  his  military  office. 
The  three  were  appointed  Major- Generals  at  the  same 
time  with  Milligan.  Now,  if  you  and  I,  members  of  an 
order,  should  be  elected  to  offices  in  it,  and  at  subsequent 
meetings,  two  of  thdm  at  least,  we  should  be  present,  is 
it  probable  we  should  be  left  uninformed  of  the  honor 
done  us?  Milligan  was  elected  in  September  at  a  meet 
ing  of  the  Grand  Council.  He  talked  with  Dodd  and 
others  who  were  present,  and  heard  all  the  speeches  that 
have  been  testified  about,  yet  nobody  told  him  that  he 
had  been  elected  Major-General !  That  is  his  story. 
Do  you  believe  it  ?  He  was  present  at  the  November 
meeting  following.  He  does  not  deny  £hat.  And 
Stidger  and  Wilson  both  tell  you  that  at  that  meeting 
the  military  part  of  the  organization  was  talked  of,  and 
Stidger  said,  both  in  his  evidence  before  the  Commission 
and  here,  that  Milligan  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
at  the  November  meeting;  and,  from  the  other  evidence, 
it  is  clear  that  it  was  the  military  committee  of  the  order 
of  which  he  was  a  member.  Then,  two  months  after  his 
election,  we  find  him  in  the  Grand  Council.  How  came 
he  of  the  Grand  Council  ?  By  the  evidence  the  Major- 
Generals  were  ex-officio  members.  Was  Milligan  elected 
a  member?  Was  he  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Grand 
Council  ?  If  so,  by  whom  ?  If  a  delegate  from  any 
county  temple,  where  is  the  evidence  of  it  ?  If  he  was 
there  not  as  a  Major-General  of  the  order,  why  was  he 
there  at  all,  and  how? 

Now,  at  the  November  meeting  it  was  said  by  the 
witnesses,  Harrison  and  Stidger,  that  this  military  part 
of  the  organization  was  fully  canvassed,  and  Wilson,  who 
is  not  favorably  disposed  to  us,  speaks  of  Dodd's  reveal 
ing  the  varied  details  of  his  plan  for  concentrating  forces 
at  Indianapolis  and  seizing  the  capital.  Still  the  plain 
tiff  tells  you  that  he  was  not  aware  that  he  had  any  con 
nection  with  them.  In  the  next  place,  he  was  present, 
if  not  at  the  February  meeting,  at  the  June  meeting  of 
the  State  Council.  I  know  he  denied  this  as  a  witness, 
but  I  saw  it  in  the  faces  of  this  jury,  and  from  what  I 


THE    LAWYER.  I  I  5 

know  of  the  way  men  look  at  such  stories,  that  you  did 
not  credit  his  story  touching  his  trip  to  Hamilton,  Ohio. 
Stidger  swears  he  was  present  in  June.  Harrison  thinks 
he  was  there,  but  is  not  certain.  Besides  their  testimony 
we  have  that  of  Mr.  Ibach.  Judging  from  his  conduct 
on  the  stand,  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that  he  was  not 
a  friend  of  the  defendants,  nor  did  he  want  them  to  suc 
ceed  in  this  case.  Before  the  Military  Commission  he 
testified  as  proved,  that  Bowles,  for  whom  he  was  called, 
was  present  at  the  June  meeting.  He  now  says  he  does 
not  think  he  was.  We  find  by  the  testimony  of  Stidger, 
and  the  testimony  of  Ibach,  the  friend  of  the  plaintiff, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  June,  1864,  when  the  pro 
posed  military  operations  were  again  canvassed  before 
the  Grand  Council,  Milligan  was  present,  and  Stidger 
says  he  was  on  the  military  committee  then  appointed. 

We  have  more  direct  evidence  still  of  his  complicity 
in  these  plans.  Harrison  was  sent  by  Dodd,  as  Grand 
Commander,  to  communicate  with  Milligan  at  his  home 
in  Huntington.  The  message  he  borerhim  was  not  to  be 
trusted  through  the  mails  of  the  United  States;  so  it  was 
sent  according  to  the  very  plan  spoken  of  in  Chicago — 
that  the  Grand  Commander  should  send  to  the  Major- 
Generals  of  the  order  information  by  private  couriers, 
and  that  they  in  turn  should  communicate  it  in  the  same 
manner  to  their  immediate  subordinates.  I  say,  in  exe 
cution  of  that  very  design,  Dodd  sent  Harrison,  the 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  order,  with  a  secret  summons  to 
Milligan.  Harrison  says  Dodd  did  not  say  to  him  that 
the  purpose  of  the  meeting  to  which  Milligan  was  sum 
moned  was  to  consult  as  to  how  they  should  seize  the 
State  government,  but  he  did  tell  him  what  the  plan  was 
and  that  he  should  go  and  notify  Milligan  to  come  down 
here  on  a  certain  day  for  the  purpose  of  consultation. 
Was  it  necessary  for  Dodd  to  say  to  Harrison,  or  for 
Harrison  to  say  to  Milligan,  what  the  purpose  of  the 
consultation  was  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  Harrison 
understood  well,  when  Dodd  disclosed  his  plan  to  him, 
the  purpose  for  which  Milligan  was  wanted  here  ?  And 
do  you  not  just  as  well  know  that  Milligan  understood 


I  I  6  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

it  also  ?  Harrison  is  not  a  friend  of  ours.  He  is  not  the 
fellow  or  associate  of  these  defendants,  but  a  co-conspira 
tor  and  fellow  of  the  plaintiff.  He  tells  you  that  he  him 
self  laid  before  Milligan  all  of  Dodd's  plans  for  an  insur 
rection  in  Indiana.  Now,  if  Milligan  had  not  had  Dodd's 
confidence,  and  if  Dodd  had  not  had  his  confidence,  would 
he  have  sent  this  messenger  to  him  at  all  ?  He  did  not 
stop  with  anybody  else.  Going  hence  to  Lafayette,  and 
from  Lafayette  up  through  the  Wabash  Valley  toward 
Huntington,  he  held  communication  with  no  man,  but 
sped  on  his  way  to  the  home  of  Milligan,  because  his 
mission  was  to  him.  Dodd  knew  Milligan's  commission 
and  place  in  the  order.  Harrison  H.  Dodd,  the  Grand 
Commander  of  the  State,  knew  that  Milligan  was  thor 
oughly  committed  to  the  treason  about  to  be  inaugurated 
in  the  State.  Otherwise  he  would  not  have  sent  the 
message  to  him  by  the  one  man  in  all  Indiana  proper  to 
carry  it — the  Grand  Secretary  of  the  order.  The  theory 
that  Milligan  was  a  Major-General  makes  everything 
plain,  for  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State  was  Milli 
gan's  military  district,  and  in  all  that  section  there  was 
but  one  person  to  whom,  as  Grand  Commander,  he 
should  communicate  orders.  He  had  nothing  to  do  with 
messages  to  the  councils  of  the  counties — the  county 
temples,  as  they  were  called— so  his  messenger  goes 
straight  from  the  head  of  the  conspiracy  here  in  Indian 
apolis  to  the  Major-General  at  Huntington,  before  whom 
he  secretly  lays  the  whole  plan.  Do  you  not  think 
Dodd  gave  Harrison  to  understand  that  Milligan  was  all 
right  before  he  made  the  revelation  to  him  ?  Do  you 
think,  if  any  of  you  had  met  Mr.  Harrison  on  the  cars 
between  here  and  Huntington,  that  he  would  have  told 
you  anything  about  the  scheme  for  an  insurrection  in 
the  State,  comprehending  a  forcible  seizure  of  the  State 
government  ?  Not  a  syllable  would  have  escaped  his 
lips  to  you  or  to  anybody  else  whom  he  did  not  know 
fully  committed  to  the  military  purposes  of  the  organi 
zation.  If  a  man  is  contemplating  such  a  crime,  whom 
does  he  tell  of  meetings  held  in  pursuance  of  it,  of  the 
plans  for  its  execution  ?  Only  those  already  committed, 


THE    LAWYER.  I  I/ 

like  himself,  to  the  bloody  work.  His  lips  are  sealed  to 
all  others.  Wherefore,  saying  there  was  not  another 
particle  of  evidence  in  this  case  from  first  to  last,  the 
meeting  that  Harrison  had  with  Milligan  is  conclusive 
that  Milligan  was  a  Major-General  in  the  order,  and 
that  Dodd  sent  Harrison  to  him  as  such,  and  that  he 
understood  the  meeting  to  which  he  was  bid  was  in  pur 
suance  of  the  conspiracy. 

And,  further,  Milligan  did  not  deny  having  the  inter 
view  with  Harrison.  He  was  asked  if  Harrison  came  to 
see  him,  and  he  admitted  it.  Nor  did  he  deny  that  Har 
rison  disclosed  to  him  Dodd's  contemplated  projects — 
his  resolution  was  not  quite  strong  enough  to  face  that. 
He  had  enough  to  do  to  explain  how  he  managed  to  get 
around  from  Huntington  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  home 
again  without  denial  of  the  matters  spoken  of  by  the 
witnesses. 

Now  here  is  a  purpose  disclosed.  Suppose  him  at 
that  time  an  innocent  man  ;  suppose  he  had  one  instinct 
of  patriotism  yet  unextinguished  in  his  soul.  When 
that  communication  was  made  to  him,  would  he  not  have 
committed  the  messenger  of  the  devilish  project  to  the 
first  Provost-Marshal  accessible  ?  Would  he  not  have 
exposed  the  designs  and  had  all  who  contemplated  them 
arrested  ?  I  say  if  there  had  been  a  spark  of  patriotism 
left  in  his  heart,  the  injury  contemplated  to  the  govern 
ment  of  his  State,  to  say  nothing  of  the  danger  to  his 
fellow-citizens,  would  have  kindled  it  into  righteous 
flame.  Yet  he  heard  it  all  without  objection.  Not  only 
did  he  hear  it  without  objection  ;  he  gave  his  promise  to 
be  here  if  he  could  and  assist  in  the  work  at  the  time 
appointed.  Let  the  counsel  then  come  and  argue  that 
his  client  is  innocent,  that  he  is  clear  of  this  guilty  con 
spiracy.  Now,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  his  client  sat 
through  two  meetings  of  the  Grand  Council  after  his  first 
and  second  election  to  the  office  of  Major-General,  let 
his  counsel  argue  his  innocence ;  to  do  it  sincerely  he 
must  believe,  and  before  you  can  be  convinced  of  it  you 
must  believe,  that  nobody,  not  even  his  confidential 
friend  Dodd,  meeting  him  often  as  he  did  in  the  Grand 


II 8  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Council  where  these  matters  were  discussed,  ever  dis 
closed  to  him  the  extraordinary  honors  put  upon  him 
by  the  order.  Especially  is  it  to  be  remembered  that  he 
addressed  Dodd  as  General  in  a  letter  that  has  been  read 
in  evidence.  Gentlemen,  I  say,  in  the  light  of  these- 
facts,  the  man  who  can  believe  Milligan,  the  plaintiff,  was 
not  a  Major-General  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  is  a  born 
imbecile. 

Next,  but  in  the  same  line  of  argument,  I  call  your 
attention  to  two  other  circumstances :  one  is  his  calling 
in  the  old  soldier  named  Elder  to  inquire  about  what 
constituted  the  staff  of  a  Major-General.  That,  you  will 
remember,  was  in  1864,  as  that  old  soldier  thought.  It 
undoubtedly  connected  itself  in  his  mind  with  the  events 
of  that  year.  The  soldier  says  Milligan  inquired  about 
the  staff  of  a  Major-General,  and  that  the  inquiry  stopped 
there.  If  I  had  to  decide  which  of  the  two  I  would  be 
lieve,  Milligan  or  the  soldier,  I  would  take  the  soldier. 
In  the  first  place,  Milligan's  testimony  is  impaired  by  his 
proved  connection  with  this  conspiracy.  Then  the  guilt 
of  the  crime  is  infinitely  worse  than  that  of  homicide, 
worse  even  than  that  of  the  man  who  invades  your  homes. 
He  who  could  be  a  party  to  it  is  a  villain  of  blacker  hue 
than  those  whom  the  law  from  day  to  day  is  putting  its 
hands  upon  in  our  criminal  courts.  Therefore,  I  say,  if 
I  had  to  choose  between  the  two  I  would  believe  the 
soldier.  He  tells  you  the  inquiry  was  limited  to  what 
constituted  the  staff  of  a  Major-General;  that  not  one 
word  was  said  about  the  pay  of  a  Major-General  or  the 
pay  of  his  staff,  but  how  many  aids  he  had,  how  many 
Adjutant-Generals,  Inspectors,  Provost-Marshals.  Mr. 
Milligan  tells  you,  the  consultation  with  Elder  was  for 
the  purpose  oP  making  a  speech  to  the  people  and  show 
ing  them  how  expensive  the  war  was  ;  therefore,  he  says 
he  did  not  ask  about  the  number  of  Major-Generals 
in  the  service  nor  about  their  pay.  To  me  it  looks 
that  a  gentleman  aspiring  to  the  candidacy  of  his  party 
for  the  chief  executive  office  in  the  State,  as  Milligan 
was,  should  have  been  able  to  find  some  more  reli 
able  source  of  information  than  a  private  from  the 


*THE    LAWYER.  Up 

United  States  army.  If  his  purpose  had  been  what  he 
says  it  was,  he  would  have  sought  the  army  regulations 
and  published  documents  of  that  character.  But  no; 
he  wished,  in  secret,  without  making  noise  about  it,  to 
ascertain  who  should  compose  the  staff  of  a  Major-Gen 
eral,  that,  at  the  time  this  uprising  was  to  occur,  he 
might  move  forth  with  all  the  epauletted  dignity  of  a 
Major-General  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  surrounded  by  a 
suitable  staff. 

My  second  reference  is  to  some  papers  found  at  Hunt- 
ington.  Mr.  Milligan  gives  a  very  innocent  account  of 
them,  as  he  does  of  his  trip  to  Dayton.  Unfortunately 
for  him,  the  papers  he  described  do  not  agree  with  the 
papers  found.  A  gentleman  comes  here  and  tells  you 
that  he  went  into  Milligan's  office  in  company  with  a 
law  student  of  Milligan's,  and  that  they  there  destroyed 
certain  papers.  This  was  soon  after  the  arrest.  The 
young  man  was  familiar  with  the  papers,  and  the  fact  of 
their  destruction  is  conclusive  that  he  knew  they  had 
something  to  do  with  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  otherwise  he 
would  not  have  put  them  into  the  fire.  Remember  that 
as 'a  fact. 

Remember  that  Wilson  Smith  and  Mr.  Dembo,  the 
student,  if  that  was  his  name,  both  thought  the  papers 
destroyed  had  connection  with  the  Sons  of  Liberty. 
The  rituals  of  the  order  were  found  there — rituals  of  an 
order  that  he  swore  he  never  belonged  to,  and  the  name 
of  which,  as  you  probably  observed,  I  could  not  wring 
out  of  him,  so  true  was  he  to  its  obligations.  The 
papers  Milligan  described  were  not  ruled  like  the  papers 
Wilson  Smith  described.  He  says  they  had  three  col 
umns  of  figures,  while  Smith  says  they  had  five.  In  one 
column  was  set  down  the  Republican  strength  of  the 
county,  in  another  the  Democratic  strength,  and  in  the 
next  column  were  figures  which  Wilson  Smith  thought 
might  be  intended  for  majorities,  but  upon  examination 
he  found  that  they  were  not ;  for  he  tells  you  he  knew 
the  majorities  in  that  section  of  the  State,  and  they  did 
not  agree  at  all.  He  tells  you  also  that  there  were  but 
three  columns  of  figures,  while  upon  the  papers  Milligan 


I2O  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

described  to  Mr.  Hendricks  there  were  two  or  more 
additional  columns  of  "  hypothecated  majorities,"  as  he 
calls  them.  If  those  papers  had  more  than  three  columns 
of  figures,  they  are  not  the  papers  found  in  his  office 
after  his  arrest,  and  he  has  not  explained  that  evidence 
away.  Now,  if  you  please,  gentlemen,  what  were  those 
papers  found  in  his  office  and  burned  by  his  law  student 
and  Wilson  Smith  after  his  arrest,  if  not  the  field  report 
of  a  Major-General's  military  command,  the  forces  under 
him  in  the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle? 
What  part  of  the  State  did  the  papers  embrace  ?  The 
northeastern  portion  of  the  State  of  Indiana — a  solid 
body  of  counties.  Mr.  Milligan  tells  you  the  papers  he 
described  covered  the  whole  State ;  Wilson  Smith  says 
the  papers  he  found  did  not  cover  the  whole  State,  but 
the  counties  corresponded  exactly  with  what,  according 
to  the  evidence  laid  before  you,  constituted  the  military 
district  of  Major-General  Milligan.  So  that  I  say  it  is 
not  true,  according  to  the  weight  of  the  evidence,  that 
there  were  destroyed  only  innocent  political  documents 
prepared  here  at  the  session  of  the  legislature  with  a 
view  to  legislative  purposes.  In  the  light  of  the  inter 
view  with  the  old  soldier  and  the  information  sought  of 
him ;  in  the  light  of  the  conduct  of  the  student  who, 
from  his  associations,  was  in  likelihood  himself  a  mem 
ber  of  the  order  and  familiar  with  the  papers — I  say  he 
helped  destroy  them  because  they  connected  Milligan 
with  the  proposed  traitorous  military  operations  of  Grand 
Commander  Dodd. 

We  have  then  this  evidence  of  the  plaintiff's  com 
plicity  with  the  designs  of  the  treasonable  organization ; 
and  the  man  who  can,  in  view  of  the  facts  that  Milligan 
was  elected  a  Major-General  in  September,  1863,  and 
re-elected  in  February,  1864,  and  that  he  afterwards 
attended  two  meetings  of  the  order — the  juror,  I  say, 
who  can  believe  that  Milligan  never  knew  he  was 
elected  such  Major-General,  does  not  need  evidence  to 
aid  him  in  the"  determination  of  any  question  ;  he  believes 
without  evidence — believes  over  evidence — believes  in 
the  teeth  of  all  human  conduct  and  experience. 


THE    LAWYER.  121 

We  have,  then,  this  conspiracy,  embracing  the  most 
infamous  designs.  We  have  Milligan,  a  prince  in  this 
Israel  of  treason  and  crime.  Then,  going  further,  he  and 
his  associates  did  acts  in  execution  of  their  conspiracy. 
They  communicated  with  the  enemy  in  Missouri;  they 
brought  rebel  officers  into  this  city  and  set  them  down, 
in  the  habiliments  of  peaceful  citizens,  at  the  public 
tables  of  the  hotels — the  very  men  intended  to  be  lead 
ers  and  commanders  of  the  rebel  prisoners  whose  rescue 
was  sought  that  they  might  be  turned  loose  upon  the 
people  of  the  city.  Still  further,  Milligan's  associates 
rose  in  arms  in  resistance  to  the  draft.  In  many  of  the 
counties  of  the  State  the  enrolling  officers  were  threat 
ened  and  beaten.  Such  as  came  to  enforce  the  draft  and 
give  notices  to  those  upon  whom  the  lot  of  service  had 
fallen  were  put  in  jeopardy ;  some  of  them  were  mur 
dered  on  the  public  roads  of  the  country.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  things,  and  these  the  overt  acts  of  fel 
low-conspirators  of  this  plaintiff  in  the  State  of  Indiana. 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  next  question:  Did  the  order,  as 
it  appears  in  the  evidence,  put  in  peril  the  public  peace 
in  Indiana?  If  it  did,  then  the  military  officer  who  failed 
to  do  his  utmost  to  suppress  it  was  a  recreant  to  the 
cause  of  his  country. 

Mr.  Hendricks  will  say  that  many  of  these  troubles 
and  dangers  were  either  imaginary  or  greatly  exagger 
ated,  or  invented  by  paid  detectives  of  the  government. 
Well,  gentlemen,  I  will  now  show  you  that  some  gentle 
men  in  Indianapolis  were  badly  frightened  about  that 
time  who  were  not  paid  detectives  or  in  any  too  active 
sympathy  with  these  defendants.  My  friend,  Mr.  Hen 
dricks,  was  disposed  to  be  a  little  satirical  in  regard  to 
General  Carrington,  and  to  me  it  seemed  a  little  disre 
spectful.  We  have  all  heard  some  scarred  veterans  speak 
sneeringly  of  the  Home  Guards,  and  of  those  whose 
business  was  in  the  office  and  the  cabinet  instead  of  the 
field,  and  we  could  hear  them  with  patience;  but  until 
the  distinguished- Senator  shall  show  some  more  con 
spicuous  service  done  for  his  country  than  he  has  thus 
far  rendered,  it  does  not  become  him  to  put  contempt  on 


122  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  honest,  useful  and  meritorious  duties  of  General  Car 
rington.  They  were  useful  and  honorable,  and  I  say  to 
day  that  high  executive  ability,  earnest  patriotism,  reso 
lution  and  firm  purpose  were  oftentimes  as  well  displayed 
in  the  cabinet,  in  the  council,  and  in  the  organization  of 
troops,  as  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  The  great  Bis 
marck  of  our  American  war,  Secretary  Stanton,  in  his 
office  at  Washington,  without  facing  the  enemy  in  the 
field  for  a  single  hour,  was  all  the  time  doing  gigantic 
good  for  his  country;  and  when  the  history  of  the  sor 
rowful  time  is  written,  and  men's  minds  turn  away  a  lit 
tle  from  the  smoke  and  conflict  of  the  actual  battle,  the 
services  of  that  man  in  council  will  be  still  more  highly  ap 
preciated  and  honored.  So  I  say  for  General  Carrington, 
who,  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  war,  here  and  in 
Ohio,  discharged  the  duties  of  the  commander  of  a  dis 
trict,  organizing  its  forces,  and  helping  keep  down  insur 
rection  and  treason  in  the  State — I  say  his  part  was  use 
ful  and  honorable,  and  should  not  be  held  up  to  ridicule 
or  contempt. 

I  was  saying  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  the  Senator 
would  no  doubt  picture  to  you  General  Carrington  as 
greatly  alarmed  by  the  exaggerated  stories.  I  now  want 
to  tell  you  of  some  men  who,  I  hope,  really  loved  their 
government  at  the  bottom,  but  who  certainly  were  not 
the  detectives  of  General  Carrington,  nor  much  in  the 
habit  of  speaking  in  its  praise.  From  the  record  in  the 
proceedings  before  the  Military  Commission  I  will  show 
you  what  they  thought  of  the  reality  of  the  peril  that 
then  threatened  the  State.  I  turn  now  to  pages  101  and 
102  of  that  record,  to  the  story  of  Mr.  Joseph  J.  Bing- 
ham,  principal  editor  then  and  now  of  the  leading  Demo 
cratic  organ  at  the  capital  of  Indiana.  I  take  it  from  his 
associations,  and  all  we  know  of  him,  that  he  was  not  a 
man  to  be  easily  scared  by  threats  and  vague  perils;  a 
man  who,  to  say  the  least,  would  not  be  apt  to  take  un 
necessary  alarm.  I  might  say  the  same  of  the  Hon.  M. 
C.  Kerr;  and  who  of  our  citizens  is  more  composed, 
more  quiet,  less  liable  to  fright,  than  our  respected 
townsmen,  Joseph  E.  McDonald,  and  Dr.  Athoo,  then 


THE   LAWYER.  123 

Secretary  of  State?  Were  they  liable  to  get  scared  and 
no  danger  present?  If  I  can  show  you  that  they  really 
believed  they  were  living  on  a  volcano;  that  war  was 
ready  at  any  moment  to  break  forth;  that  the  mine  had 
been  dug  and  the  train  laid,  and  that  it  only  required  a 
torch  in  the  hand  of  some  incendiary  to  lift  us  into  de 
struction — if  they  believed  all  that,  surely  the  officers  of 
the  government  might  be  excused  for  thinking  there 
was  danger.  Mr.  Bingham  tells  us  that  Dodd  communi 
cated  to  him  his  plan  for  an  uprising  in  the  State,  and 
asked  him  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  democracy  for  the 
i6th  of  August,  in  Indianapolis,  that  under  cover  of  the 
meeting  he  might  bring  his  allies  of  the  South  to  the 
capital  of  the  State  unsuspected.  He  seems  to  have 
been  appalled,  as  far  as  I  can  gather  from  his  statement 
before  the  Commission,  not  so  much  by  the  horrid 
wickedness  of  the  thing,  as  by  what  seemed  to  him  the 
small  chances  of  its  success.  He  went  to  Mr.  Joseph  E. 
McDonald  and  told  him  what  he  had  heard  from  Dodd, 
and  after  Mr.  McDonald  had  listened  to  his  story,  they 
concluded  to  sleep  over  it,  and  think  about  it.  They  did 
not  want  to  act  hastily,  and  involve  those  who  were  their 
personal  friends  in  peril  by  any  premature  revelation; 
but  as  Mr.  Bingham  came  away  from  the  office  of  Mc 
Donald  he  met  Hon.  M.  C.  Kerr  on  the  street,  who  was 
bustling  along  much  excited,  and  then  a  colloquy  took 
place.  Says  Mr.  Bingham,  "  Hallo,  Kerr,  what  brought 
you  here?"  He  says  Mr.  Kerr  seemed  very  much  ex 
cited.  I  repeat  now  that  Michael  C.  Kerr  is  a  man  not 
readily  alarmed.  Is  he  not  rather  always  looking  out  for 
perils  to  the  people  from  the  government?  Was  he  not 
always  apprehensive  that  the  government  would  do  some 
thing  strong  and  decisive  to  quench  the  rebellion?  Mr. 
Kerr  said,  "Do  you  know  anything?"  Said  Mr.  Bing 
ham,  "Do  you  know  anything?"  "Yes,  I  do."  "What 
is  it?"  said  he.  "The  devil  is  to  pay  in  our  section  of 
the  State."  The  devil  would  have  been  to  pay,  too,  if 
this  thing  had  progressed  a  little  further.  Mr.  Kerr  told 
him  the  people  of  Washington,  Harrison,  and  Floyd 
counties,  and  all  that  section,  were  under  impression  that 


124   •  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

a  revolution  was  impending.  How  did  they  get  the  im 
pression  ?  Who  had  told  them  of  it  ?  General  Carring- 
ton  ?  Have  you  doubt  as  to  how  it  came  ?  "  He  (Kerr) 
told  me,"  continues  Bingham,  "that  the  farmers  down 
there  were  frightened,  and  that  they  were  selling  their 
hay  in  the  field,  and  their  wheat  in  the  stack,  and  that 
property  of  every  kind  was  being  converted  into  green 
backs."  That  was  the  statement  of  a  member  of  Con 
gress  from  the  New  Albany  district — a  man  not  much 
alarmed,  at  least,  when  he  heard  of  rebel  successes  in 
the  South.  Be  it  said  that  it  is  part  of  the  public  history 
of  this  State,  that  there  were  men  in  it  to  declare  openly 
in  public  conventions,  that  the  news  of  Union  victories 
brought  them  no  joy,  and  the  news  of  a  Union  defeat  no 
sorrow.  But  this  interview  with  Mr.  Kerr  goes  further. 
Mr.  Bingham  took  Mr.  Kerr  to  Mr.  McDonald,  and  had 
him  tell  the  same  story.  Calling  the  latter  gentleman 
out  of  bed  at  night,  as  I  understand  the  account,  Mr. 
Bingham  says,  "  We  got  him  up,"  meaning  Mr.  McDon 
ald,  "and  I  said  to  him,  Kerr  has  got  some  important 
information,  and  I  want  him  to  tell  you  the  story  just  as 
he  has  told  it  to  me."  Then  and  there  it  was  concluded 
that  the  thing  must  be  stopped,  and  they  called  a  meet 
ing  of  leading  Democrats  at  Mr.  McDonald's  office,  at 
which  Dodd  and  Walker  were  present,  and  Kerr  made  a 
speech.  It  is  to  be  added  now  that  Mr.  Heffren  testifies 
that  Michael  C.  Kerr  was  a  member  of  the  order ;  and 
perhaps  it  was  as  true  of  him  as  it  is  of  many  other  men, 
that,  contemplating  danger  afar  off,  he  felt  brave  to  meet 
it.  They  determined  at  that  meeting  that  the  matter 
should  be  stopped,  and  all  the  influence  of  those  gentle 
men,  Mr.  McDonald,  Mr.  Kerr,  and  others  named  as 
having  been  present,  was  brought  to  bear,  according  to 
Mr.  Bingham's  statement,  to  induce  an  abandonment  of 
the  revolution.  That  is  to  say,  it  required  the  combined 
influence  of  those  Democratic  leaders  to  compel  Dodd, 
Milligan,  Walker  and  Bowles  to  give  up  the  proposed 
insurrection.  These  men  who  seemed  for  a  time  hover 
ing  around  the  outskirts  of  the  order,  now  that  they 
stood  on  the  brink  of  the  gulf  of  death,  desolation,  and 


THE    LAWYER.  125 

revolution,  drew  back  in  terror.  Was  there  peril  ?  Were 
not  General  Hovey  and  General  Carrington  authorized 
to  believe  that  there  was  peril  to  the  State  ?  If  McDon 
ald  and  Kerr  believed  the  danger  imminent,  what  should 
the  military  commander  do  who  is  no  half-way  friend  of 
his  government  ?  What  should  he  do  ?  Allow  considera 
tions  of  personal  liberty  to  stand  in  the  way  of  action  ? 
Gentlemen,  if  General  Hovey  had  failed  to  lay  the  strong 
hand  of  military  power  upon  the  traitors  he  would  have 
been  recreant  to  his  oath.  When  advised  of  such  schemes 
our  officials  are  not  to  await  their  full  development.  The 
nation,  as  the  individual,  through  its  officers,  has  the 
right  to  strike  before  it  is  struck.  It  is  a  right  given 
from  God.  If  a  man  is  threatening  my  life,  his  hand 
lifted  with  the  dagger  to  strike  me  to  the  heart,  I  am  not 
to  wait  until  the  blow  is  delivered.  The  law  acquits  me 
if  I  strike  him  dead  at  my  feet.  How  much  more  shall 
these  defendants  stand  acquit  before  the  courts  and  their 
fellow-men,  who,  seeing  the  deadliness  of  the  peril,  struck 
the  treason  before  it  could  strike  the  nation  ? 

I  think  I  have  shown  you  now,  not  merely  that  there 
was  peril,  but  that,  from  the  information  he  had,  General 
Hovey  was  justified  in  arresting  Milligan,  and  bringing 
him  to  trial  before  the  Military  Commission.  If  the 
State  had  broken  out  in  rebellion  and  insurrection,  and 
your  own  homes  been  invaded  by  these  ruthless  men, 
your  families  outraged,  insulted  and  slain,  could  you 
have  ever  forgiven  the  recreant  commander  of  the  de 
partment,  who,  apprised  of  the  danger,  failed  to  interpose 
his  military  power  ? 

Senator  Hendricks  will  have  a  great  deal  to  say  to 
you  about  the  security  which  the  Constitution  guarantees 
to  life,  person  and  property.  It  is  indeed  a  grand  birth 
right  that  our  fathers  have  given  us ;  but,  gentlemen,  it 
was  a  legacy  handed  down  to  the  loyal  and  the  law-abid 
ing.  The  law  covers  with  its  broad  and  impenetrable 
shield  the  true-hearted  citizen,  not  the  traitor  and  the 
law-breaker.  Yet  the  gentleman  comes  to  make  appeals 
from  a  Constitution  which  his  client  would  have  de 
stroyed,  and  in  behalf  of  a  liberty  which  would  have 


126  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

been  exercised  for  the  destruction  of  our  government. 
He  complains  of  a  restraint  which  was  in  the  interests 
of  public  peace.  Listen  to  him  then,  give  your  full  ac 
cord  to  all  he  may  say  of  the  right  of  the  citizen  to  be 
secure  in  person  and  property,  but  remember — those 
guarantees  are  to  the  loyal  and  the  law-abiding. 

Much  was  said  in  the  opening  argument  about  mili 
tary  arrests.  The  Sons  of  Liberty  were  dreadfully  moved 
when  the  government  laid  its  hand  upon  Vallandigham, 
the  Ohio  traitor,  who,  by  his  pernicious  teachings,  held 
back  from  the  army  thousands  of  young  men — that  man, 
who  alone  was  a  greater  impediment  to  our  success  in 
the  war,  a  more  formidable  opposition,  than  the  best 
brigade  in  the  rebel  army. 

Gentlemen,  were  any  of  you  troubled  by  the  military? 
Were  any  of  you  arrested  ?  Of  course,  in  times  of  war, 
there  are  always  instances  of  recklessness,  and  hardship, 
and  sometimes  there  is  much  done  by  soldiery  that  men 
condemn.  But  why  were  none  of  you  restrained  of  your 
liberties  during  the  war?  Simply  because  you  made  it 
known  by  your  walk  and  conversation  that  you  loved 
your  country,  and  that  your  heart  beat  responsive  to  the 
music  of  the  Union.  This  brought  you  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  army  of  the  Union  and  its  commanders,  and  as 
you  helped  therr  they  helped  you.  On  the  other  hand, 
who  were  they  that  felt  the  strength  of  military  power? 
Only  those  men  who  went  forth  in  acts  of  hostility  to  the 
Union.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  the  rebels  to  clothe 
themselves  in  the  garb  of  our  soldiers,  the  better  to 
destroy  them  with  perfidious  fire.  Just  so  this  man  wraps 
the  provision  of  the  Constitution  around  him  that  he 
may  steal  forth  in  due  time  to  his  work  of  death.  We 
never  can  be  proud  enough  of  the  security  we  enjoy,  but 
let  us  never  forget  that  it  was  not  made  and  given  to  us 
for  the  protection  of  the  traitors. 

I  submit  to  you  then,  gentlemen,  whether  the  arrest  of 
the  plaintiff  was  not  justifiable.  I  submit  to  you  whether 
General  Hovey  would  not  have  been  untrue  to  himself, 
to  the  duties  of  the  hour,  and  to  his  country,  untrue  to 
you,  for  that  matter,  if  he  had  done  otherwise  than  he 


THE    LAWYER.  127 

did  ?  I  think  you  must  find  that  the  plaintiff's  arrest  was 
in  the  interest  of  public  peace;  that  Milligan  brought  his 
troubles  upon  himself  by  his  crimes  against  the  law. 
The  arrest  of  these  conspirators  was  the  promptest  and 
best  step  that  could  have  been  taken  for  the  suppression 
of  the  conspiracy.  There  were  thousands  of  men  brought 
into  the  vestibule  of  the  order,  and,  inflamed  by  speeches, 
kept  ready  to  rush  together  and  make  common  cause 
when  the  time  for  action  should  come.  Oh,  the  horrid 
guilt  of  the  leaders  who  taught  these  political  heresies, 
and  corrupted  the  young  men  of  the  country  by  such 
sentiments ! 


Gentlemen  of  the  Jury:  If  his  Honor  says  to  you  that 
this  question  of  the  existence  of  war  in  the  State  is  one 
for  you,  I  ask  you  to  take  the  definition  of  war  given  by 
Mr.  Hendricks,  and  tell  me  on  oath  whether,  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1864,  there  was  not  a  conflict  of  organized  forces 
in  the  State  of  Indiana — whether  General  Hovey,  with 
home  forces,  and  the  few  veterans  who  were  at  home, 
were  not  arrayed  upon  the  one  hand,  and  if  upon  the 
other,  Bowles  and  Milligan  and  Horsey,  with  their  secret 
legions  of  armed  traitors,  were  not  organized  into  an  army, 
within  the  State,  for  the  destruction  of  our  government. 
There  was  not  more  truly  a  state  of  war  in  Charleston 
harbor  before  the  gun  was  fired  that  hurled  the  first  shot 
against  Sumter,  than  existed  in  the  State  of  Indiana  at 
the  time  of  which  I  have  been  speaking. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury  :  Mr.  Hendricks  has  complained 
that  we  have  been  trying  to  inflame  your  minds.  I  sub 
mit  to  you  and  him,  if  he  will  judge  it  candidly,  whether 
the  inflammation,  if  there  has  been  any  in  the  case,  has 
not  had  its  origin  in  the  facts  themselves,  rather  than  in 
appeals  of  counsel.  If  you  have  felt  your  hearts  kindled 
with  an  honest  indignation,  what  did  it  except  the  simple 
narration  of  the  facts?  Would  my  friend  have  a  citizen 
of  Indiana  sit  by  and  hear  stolidly  this  story  of  dark 
plottings  against  the  public  peace  ?  Who  can  hear  with- 


128  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

out  wrath  of  the  destruction  of  our  property,  to  be 
brought  about  by  turning  armed  rebels  loose  in  our 
midst  ?  Does  the  Senator  think  that  men  can  hear  such 
facts  and  not  be  "inflamed?"  I  pity  the  heart,  I  pity 
the  man  that  can  listen  to  such  stories  of  wrong,  conspi 
racy,  and  treason,  and  not  find  his  heart  all  aglow  with 
honest  indignation. 

It  is  true  that  our  courts  are  set  apart  from  mere  polit 
ical  excitement,  but  not  apart  from  patriotism.  It  is  true 
that  our  judges  when  they  put  on  the  white  robes  of  their 
high  office,  leave  the  spotted  robes  Jof  partisanship  be 
hind  ;  but  it  is  not  true,  and  God  forbid  that  it  should 
ever  become  true,  that  the  judges  of  this  land  should  put 
off  their  loyalty.  Who  ought  to  love  our  Constitution 
and  laws  with  heart's  full  allegiance,  if  not  the  judges, 
whose  special  study  they  are  ? 

I  cannot  talk  much  longer,  and  I  ought  not  to.  The 
defendants  whom  I  represent  claim  to  have  acted  through 
out  this  transaction  for  the  public  welfare,  and  in  perfect 
good  faith.  General  Hovey,  when  he  issued  the  order  for 
the  plaintiff's  arrest,  felt  that  he  could  no  more  stay  his 
hand  than  he  could,  with  honor,  have  held  back  against 
an  order  to  charge  upon  the  foe.  He  could  not  have 
felt  more  recreant  to  the  duties  of  his  office  if  he  had 
turned  his  back  and  fled  when  his  comrades  charged  the 
enemy. 

And  what  less  shall  be  said  of  the  gentlemen  who 
composed  the  commission  that  tried  the  plaintiff?  One 
of  them,  now  the  Marshal  of  this  District,  maimed  for 
life,  drags  himself  about  disfigured  by  the  loss  of  a  left 
arm.  Yonder,  on  the  bloody  sides  of  Kenesaw,  he  gave 
an  arm,  almost  a  life,  for  the  country  which  he,  and  these 
his  comrades,  loved  so  well.  While  he  lay  upon  the  field, 
bleeding,  almost  dying,  here  in  Grand  Council  in  the 
State  of  Indiana  Milligan  and  his  associates  were  plot 
ting  treason ;  and  now  they  seek  to  rob  him  of  the  little 
savings  from  the  office  which  a  grateful  country,  and  a 
President  who  honors  his  valor,  have  conferred  upon  him, 
in  order  to  enrich  traitors. 

Gentlemen,  I  feel  sure  that  it  will  not  be  so.     On  the 


THE    LAWYER.  129 

morrow  when  the  booming  gun  shall  salute  the  rising 
sun,  and  tripping  maidens  come  to  hang  floral  offerings 
upon  the  head-stones  of  our  dead,  may  your  returning 
feet  vindicate  the  living. 

Speech  in  Robert  S.  Robertson  vs.  The  State  y  on  relation  of 
Alonzo  G.  Smith.     In  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana. 

The  foregoing  is  the  formal  title  of  the  suit  in 
the  course  of  which  the  second  argument  sub 
mitted  to  the  reader  was  made  by  General  Har 
rison.  More  familiarly  it  is  known  as  the  "  Lieu 
tenant-Governor's  Case,"  and  the  speech  is  se 
lected  because  it  is  considered  a  fair  expose  of 
the  speaker's  capacity  to  deal  with  questions  of 
constitutional  law,  admittedly  the  highest  known 
to  American  and  English  judicature. 

An  explanation  of  the  circumstances  leading 
up  to  the  case  may  be  serviceable  here,  as  in  the 
presentation  of  the  argument  in  Milligan  vs.  Slack 
and  others. 

General  Harrison's  term  as  United  States  Sen 
ator  from  Indiana  would  expire  in  1888,  making 
it  the  duty  of  the  legislature  of  1887  to  elect  his 
successor.  In  1885  Mr.  Voorhees  had  been 
chosen  Senator  by  a  joint  Democratic  majority 
of  forty-six,  but  as  that  was  not  thought  sufficient 
to  certainly  insure  the  defeat  of  General  Har 
rison,  a  new  legislative  apportionment  of  the 
State  was  resolved  upon  by  the  Democrats.  The 
gerrymander  that  followed  may  be  judged  from  a 
statement  of  Mr.  Voorhees  to  Senator  Camden, 

9 


I3O  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

of  West  Virginia,  to  the  effect,  as  reported,  that 
he  would  feel  personally  disgraced  if  the  Indiana 
legislature  did  not  have  a  joint  Democratic  ma 
jority  of  at  least  sixty. 

The  first  election  under  the  gerrymander  was  a 
great  surprise  to  all  parties.  The  Republican 
candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  Robert  S. 
Robertson,  was  chosen  by  a  majority  of  3,323  ; 
while,  following  the  returns,  the  joint  convention 
for  the  election  of  United  States  Senator  would 
stand  71  Republican,  75  Democratic,  and  4  Labor 
votes. 

This  unexpected  turn  of  events  drove  the 
Democratic  managers  to  new  resorts.  When 
their  scheme  was  finally  evolved,  it  was  of  first 
importance  that  Mr.  Robertson  should  not  be 
permitted  to  preside  over  the  deliberations  of  the 
Senate,  the  constitution  of  the  State  to  the  con 
trary  notwithstanding.  In  furtherance  of  the 
scheme,  Mahlon  D.  Manson,  Lieutenant-Governor 
at  the  time  of  the  election,  and  entitled  as  such 
until  his  successor  would  qualify,  which  could  only 
take  place  after  the  election  returns  were  counted 
by  the  legislature  in  joint  convention,  was  induced 
to  resign  and  accept  a  revenue  collectorship.  This 
vacation  of  Hanson's  office  would,  it  was  con 
tended,  throw  the  presidency  of  the  Senate  into 
the  hands  of  Alonzo  G.  Smith,  Senator  from  Jen 
nings  county,  who  happened  at  the  time  of  the 
dissolution  of  the  preceding  legislature  to  have 


THE    LAWYER. 

been  president  pro  tern.  To  make  the  claim 
plausible  as  well  as  effective,  the  Democratic  con 
spirators  determined  to  go  the  full  length  of 
seating  Mr.  Smith  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
bearing  him  through.  The  control  of  the  Senate 
thus  secured  would  enable  the  Democrats  to  hold 
the  Senatorial  succession  in  secure  grip,  provided 
Mr.  Smith  proved  himself  equal  to  the  occasion. 

Looking  the  ground  over  in  anticipation,  it  was 
foreseen  that  the  battle  might  have  to  be  fought 
in  the  Senate  chamber  or  in  the  State  courts,  or 
in  both  at  the  same  time.  If  it  took  the  shape 
of  a  legal  controversy,  the  revolutionists  felt  safe 
— the  Supreme  Court  was  largely  Democratic ; 
if  confined  to  the  Senate  chambers,  Mr.  Smith 
could  be  relied  upon  to  take  care  of  himself; 
should  there  be  resort  to  force,  the  Democratic 
Governor  (Gray)  would  exercise  his  prerogatives 
as  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia. 

Fortunately  there  was  no  call  to  arms. 

How  Mr.  Smith,  upon  seizing  the  chair,  took 
care  of  himself  may  be  inferred  from  the  following 
sample  of  the  proceedings  in  the  first  day  of  the 
session : 

Senator  Smith,  of  Jennings,  at  ten  o'clock  said :  The 
Senate  of  the  Fifty-fifth  General  Assembly  will  now  come 
to  order.  Senators  and  Senators-elect  will  take  their 
seats.  The  Senators  are  requested  to  keep  order. 

Mr.  Winter — I  rise  to  a  point  of  order,  Mr.  Chairman. 

The  Chair — There  is  nothing  that  can  be  brought 
before  this  body.  It  is  not  organized.  Your  point  of 
order  cannot  be  received  or  determined.  [Using  the 
gavel.] 


132  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Mr.  Winter — My  point  of  order  is  that  we  should  pro 
ceed  with  the  organization  of  the  Senate  according  to 
law. 

The  Chair — Your  point  of  order  is  out  of  order. 
[Hammering  with  the  gavel  nervously.] 

Mr.  Winter — I  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  chair. 

The  Chair — Your  appeal  is  out  of  order,  and  will  not 
be  entertained.  [Pounding  away  on  the  desk  with  the 
gavel.] 

Mr.  Johnson — I  second  the  motion  for  an  appeal,  and 
desire  to  give  notice  that  I  will  file  a  protest  with  the 
Senator  from  Marion  [Mr.  Winter]. 

Mr.  Winter — Then  I  rise  to  a  question  of  privilege. 

The  Chair — Your  question  of  privilege  is  out  of  order. 
[Using  the  gavel] 

Mr.  Winter — To  raise  a  question  of  privilege  is  a  right 
possessed  by  every  Senator  upon  the  floor. 

The  Chair — When  an  organization  is  perfected  perhaps 
you  are  right. 

Mr.  Winter — As  a  Senator  on  the  floor  of  this  Senate, 
possessed  of  privileges  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  State,  I  protest  against  the  act  of  the  person  as 
suming  to  act  as  President  pro  tern,  of  the  Senate  as  a 
thing  improper,  uncalled  for,  and  without  the  expressed 
will  of  the  Senate.  [The  Chair  continued  to  pound  the 
desk  with  the  gavel.]  I  shall  reduce  my  protest  to 
writing. 

The  Chair  [hammering  with  the  gavel] — Take  your 
seat. 

Mr.  Johnson  addressed  the  Chair. 

The  Chair — I  don't  recognize  you,  sir.  The  first  thing 
in  order  is  a  prayer  by  Bishop  Knickerbocker. 

Mr.  Winter — I  protest  against  your  discharging  the 
duties  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  in  the  organization 
of  this  Senate. 

The  Chair  [hammering  away] — The  Senate  will  rise 
while  we  have  prayer. 

Mr.  Winter — I  appeal  to  the  Senate  as  against  this 
person  who  is  assuming  the  duties  of  a  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor. 


THE    LAWYER.  133 

The  Chair  [still  using  the  gavel] — Order  while  prayer 
is  being  offered. 

Mr.  Winter  continued  speaking  after  the  Bishop  had 
commenced  his  prayer.  When  the  prayer  was  finished 
the  Chair  said :  "The  Auditor  of  State  will  call  the  roll 
of  Senators  holding  over.  Mr.  Rice,  call  the  roll."  This 
was  done,  and  then  the  Chair  said :  "  The  Auditor  of 
State  will  now  call  the  roll  of  Senators-elect."  Auditor 
Rice  proceeded  with  the  call,  but  when  he  called  the 
county  of  Wayne  Mr.  Johnson  said :  "  Recognizing  the 
Auditor  of  State  as  such — "  [Here  his  voice  was  drowned 
by  the  gavel.] 

The  Chair — The  Auditor  will  call  thirteen  of  the 
Senators-elect  as  their  names  appear  upon  the  roll,  and 
they  will  present  themselves  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate  and 
be  sworn  in  by  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

These,  with  the  remaining  Senators-elect,  were  sworn 
in. 

Mr.  Winter — I  rise  to  a  point  of  order,  Mr.  Chairman. 
My  point  of  order  now  goes  to  the  organization  of  the 
Senate. 

The  Chair — The  Senator  is  out  of  order  for  two  rea 
sons — he  addresses  the  President  of  the  Senate  as  "  Mr. 
Chairman,"  and  this  Senate  cannot  entertain  a  point  of 
order  until  its  organization  is  perfected. 

Mr.  Winter — I  desire  to  state  my  point  of  order. 
.     The  Chair — You  may  state  it,  sir. 

Mr.  Winter — My  point  of  order  is  that  there  are  present 
but  twenty-four  members  of  the  last  Senate.  The  or 
ganization  of  this  Senate  is  now  in  control  of  this  Senate 
itself,  and  I  move  that  the  Senate  proceed  to  the  election 
of  a  President  pro  tempore — the  Lieutenant-Governor  not 
being  in  attendance. 

The  Chair — Your  point  of  order  and  your  resolution 
are  out  of  order. 

Mr.  Winter — I  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  the  Senate. 

The  Chair — Your  appeal  is  out  of  order.  You  will 
take  your  seat. 

Mr.  Winter — I  desire  to  rise  to  a  question  ol  privi 
lege. 


134  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

The  Chair — I  say  to  the  Senator,  with  all  due  respect 
to  him,  that  he  is  out  of  order.  You  will  take  your 
seat. 

Mr.  Winter — I  desire  to  have  my  protest  entered  on 
the  journals  of  the  Senate. 

The  Chair — You  take  your  seat.  [Using  the  gavel 
vigorously.]  Take  your  seat,  now.  The  first  thing  in 
order  is  the  election  of  a  principal  Secretary  of  the 
Senate.  * 

Mr.  Johnson — I  desire  to  suggest  that  the  first  thing 
in  order  is  the  election  of  a  President  pro  tern,  of  the 
Senate. 

The  Chair — I  desire  to  suggest  that  you  take  your 
seat,  sir  [laughter]  and  keep  it.  The  first  thing  in  order 
is  the  election  of  a  principal  Secretary.  Nominations 
are  now  in  order. 

Webster  Dixon,  of  Bartholomew  county,  was  nomi 
nated  from  the  Democratic  side,  when  Mr.  Sellers  said  : 
"  There  being  no  other  nomination,  I  move  that  Webster 
Dixon  be  declared  elected  Secretary  of  the  Senate." 

Mr.  Winter — I  desire  to  state  a  point  of  order. 

The  Chair — The  Auditor  will  call  the  roll  upon  the 
election  of  principal  Secretary. 

Mr.  Winter — My  point  of  order  is — 

The  Chair  [using  the  gavel] — Take  your  seat.  [To 
the  Auditor :]  Call  the  roll.  Those  not  answering  will 
be  marked  present  and  not  voting,  if  they  are  present. 

The  usurpation  was  more  conspicuous  on  ac 
count  of  the  presence  of  the  Auditor  of  State, 
upon  whom,  by  constitutional  provision,  the  duty 
of  presiding  over  the  Senate  during  its  organiza 
tion  is  devolved. 

The  Senate  chamber  was  of  course  in  posses 
sion  of  men  employed  by  Mr.  Smith  to  defend 
him  to  the  last  extremity.  In  one  instance  a  re 
fractory  Republican  was  thrown  from  his  chair 


THE   LAWYER.  135 

to  the  floor  by  the  serjeant-at-arms.  At  length 
Lieutenant-Governor  Robertson,  having  duly 
qualified,  appeared  in  person  to  demand  the 
chair ;  at  a  sign  from  Mr.  Smith,  a  man  selected 
for  his  strength  seized  the  chosen  of  the  people 
and  flung  him  off  into  the  crowd.  Armed  guards 
held  the  doors  of  the  chamber  during  adjourn 
ment. 

It  was  not  long  until  Mr.  Smith  began  to  hear 
from  public  opinion ;  and,  feeling  the  want  of 
support,  he  appealed  to  the  courts. 

By  petition  for  an  injunction  against  the  Secre 
tary  of  State  he  sought  to  enjoin  that  official  from 
delivering  the  returns  of  the  election  for  Lieuten 
ant-Governor  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House;  the 
object  being  to  avoid  the  counting  the  votes  in 
joint  convention  as  required  by  the  constitution. 
The  petition  was  filed  in  the  Marion  Circuit 
Court.  Judge  Ayer  refused  the  injunction.  Ap 
peal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and,  to 
the  amazement  of  the  revolutionists,  the  decision 
below  was  sustained.  The  Democratic  judges, 
refusing  to  prostitute  themselves  and  their  office, 
held,  after  argument  pro  and  con,  that  the  court 
had  no  authority  to  enjoin  the  Secretary  of  State 
in  the  case  presented.  General  Harrison  did 
not  personally  appear  in  the  proceeding. 

The  Legislature  met  and  the  counting  of  the 
votes  being  had,  Mr.  Robertson  was  formally 
proclaimed  Lieutenant-Governor.  A  direct  issue 


136  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

was  thus  joined  between  Robertson  and  Smith. 
The  debate  extended  to  the  streets  and  hotels. 
The  newspapers  loaded  their  columns  with  red- 
hot  matter,  and  on  both  sides  there  was  talk  of 
violence.  In  this  extremity  Smith  again  appealed 
to  law.  A  quo  warranto  proceeding  was  begun 
by  him  (State  ex  ret.  Alonzo  G.  Smith)  on  the 
1 2th  of  January,  in  the  Marion  Circuit  Court,  to 
settle  the  title  to  the  office ;  in  other  words,  to 
have  the  court  declare  which  was  Lieu  tenant- 
Governor,  Alonzo  G.  Smith,  President  pro  tern. 
of  the  Senate,  or  Robert  S.  Robertson,  claiming 
by  virtue  of  a  decisive  majority  of  the  voters  of 
the  State. 

Judge  Ayer  held  that  the  suit  was  properly 
brought,  and  also  that  the  question  was  deter- 
minable  by  the  courts.  Thereupon  he  issued  an 
injunction  forbidding  Robertson  from  attempting 
to  preside  over  the  Senate  or  in  any  manner  ex 
ercising  the  functions  of  Lieutenant-Governor. 
An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
heard  there  with  oral  argument.  Mr.  W.  H.  H. 
Miller  opened  in  behalf  of  Robertson,  followed 
by  Hon.  Jason  Brown  for  Smith ;  then  Mr.  Mich- 
ener,  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  replied  to 
Brown.  Mr.  Turpie  made  the  closing  speech  for 
Smith,  and  General  Harrison  answered  him. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  that  General  Harrison 
had  given  the  case  no  attention  until  the  evening 
before  argument  was  begun  ;  that  evening  he  ran 


THE    LAWYER.  137 

over  the  briefs  and  was  ready  to  speak  in   the 
morning. 

The  Supreme  Court,  consisting  of  five  judges, 
four  Democrats  and  one  Republican,  agreed 
unanimously  that  the  Marion  Circuit  Court  had 
no  jurisdiction  of  the  person  of  Mr.  Robertson ; 
that  the  suit  was  improperly  brought  in  that 
court ;  and  that  the  injunction  had  no  foundation 
in  law.  Three  of  the  judges,  Niblack,  Zollars 
and  Elliot,  being  a  majority,  held  further  that  the 
judiciary  had  no  power  to  determine  the  ques 
tions  involved  in  the  proceeding ;  but  that  they 
belonged  to  the  political  department  alone.  The 
case  was  therefore  reversed  and  dismissed. 
Nevertheless  Smith  maintained  his  usurpation  to 
the  last,  and  as  a  result  David  Turpie  was  ulti 
mately  elected  to  succeed  General  Harrison  as 
United  States  Senator  from  Indiana. 

THE   ARGUMENT   BY   GENERAL   HARRISON. 

May  it  please  your  Honors — The  case  at  bar  is, 
in  some  of  its  aspects,  one  of  unusual  significance.  It 
takes  us  away  from  the  consideration  of  those  rules 
which  apply  to  ordinary  contracts  between  individuals  to 
a  study  of  the  philosophy  of  government.  It  has  other 
aspects  which  are  quite  familiar,  which  present  questions 
not  more  difficult  and  not  different  from  those  which 
this  court  is  in  the  habit  of  dealing  with  in  cases  in- 
1  volving  the  most  petty  amounts  of  property. 

I  take  it  that  logically,  in  the  consideration  of  every 
case,  before  a  self-respecting  tribunal,  the  question  of 
jurisdiction  is  first.  Whether  that  question  relates  to 
the  jurisdiction  over  the  individual  who  is  brought  by 
summons  before  the  court,  or  to  the  subject-matter  in- 


138  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

volved,  it  is  a  threshold  question.  It  is  usurpation  for 
this  court,  or  any  court,  to  give  judgment  in  any 
case  where  it  has  not  jurisdiction  of  the  person  and  of  the 
subject-matter. 

I  am  aware  that  in  certain  quarters  there  has  been  a 
degree  of  restiveness  and  even  an  indulgence  in  brutal 
criticism  because  these  obvious  considerations  in  a  pre 
vious  case  had  the  recognition  of  this  court,  and  the 
court  could  not  be  driven  over  a  threshold  which  was 
barred  against  it  by  the  Constitution  and  the  law. 

It  is  an  insulting  proposition  to  any  court  that  it  shall, 
for  the  convenience  of  any  man  or  any  combination  of 
men,  enter  into  the  investigation  of  questions  which 
the  law  and  the  Constitution  do  not  submit  to  its  judg 
ment. 

We  have  here,  as  I  have  already  indicated,  first,  a 
question  of  jurisdiction  over  the  person  of  the  defendant, 
Robert  S.  Robertson.  He  is  sued  in  Marion  county, 
while  the  record  shows  that  his  residence  is  in  Allen 
county.  The  first  point  is,  can  he  be  impleaded  by 
any  one  in  the  form  of  action  here  adopted  in  any  other 
county  than  that  of  his  residence  ? 

The  learned  counsel  have  had  recourse  to  some  sug 
gestions  as  to  what  the  common  law  of  venue  is,  and  the 
defense  of  this  jurisdiction  seems  to  rest  upon  views 
of  the  common  law.  Is  venue  a  matter  of  the  com 
mon  law  in  the  State  of  Indiana?  Were  the  diligent 
counsel  able  to  cite  any  decision  of  this  court  indicating 
that  the  common  law  might  be  resorted  to  in  the  de 
cision  of  such  a  question  ?  We  have  general  provisions 
of  our  code  intended  to  cover,  and  actually  covering,  all 
classes  of  actions,  and  indicating  the  legislative  inten 
tion  as  to  the  forum  in  which  such  actions  might  be 
brought. 

This  action  is  called  in  argument  quo  warranto ;  our 
statute  calls  it  "  information."  It  is  not  called  informa 
tion  in  the  nature  of  quo  warranto,  or  quo  warranto,  but 
simply  information.  It  does  not  relate  exclusively  to  the 
case  of  an  intrusion  into  an  office,  but  embraces  several 
other  subjects ;  it  embraces  an  intrusion  into  a  franchise ; 


THE    LAWYER.  139 

it  embraces  the  case  of  a  corporation  assuming  to  act  as 
such  without  authority  of  law ;  it  embraces  the  case  of  an 
escheat  of  property ;  it  embraces  the  case  of  a  patent  or 
deed,  made  by  the  State,  and  its  annulment;  all  of  these 
are  embraced  in  the  article  of  our  code  entitled  informa 
tion.  There  is  nowhere  in  all  of  these  subdivisions  or 
subjects  which  may  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
court  by  information  any  expressed  declaration  of  a 
venue.  In  the  case  of  escheat,  and  in  the  case  of  an 
action  to  annul  a  conveyance  or  deed  there  is  no  sug 
gestion  of  any.  My  recollection  is  that  even  the  terms 
"  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  proper  county  "  are  not 
used. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  the  intrusion  into  an 
office  it  is  said  "  the  action  shall  be  brought  in  the 
Circuit  Court  of  the  proper  county."  The  learned  coun 
sel  say  that  establishes  a  venue  without  reference  to  any 
other  statute.  What  is  it  in  this  case  ?  They  say  "  that 
county  where  the  intrusion  or  the  particular  act  of  in 
trusion  complained  of  occurred."  Now,  in  order  to 
maintain  their  position  they  must  establish  two  propo 
sitions.  First,  that  this  is  not  a  proceeding  governed 
by  the  general  provision  of  the  code  fixing  the  venue  of 
civil  actions ;  secondly,  that  this  special  statute  itself  es 
tablishes  some  venue. 

The  counsel  say :  "  We  do  not  controvert  the  propo 
sition  that  this  is  a  civil  action."  It  seems  to  me  when 
that  admission  is  made  the  argument  is  abandoned,  un 
less  it  can  be  shown  that  some  other  venue  than  that 
described  in  the  section  of  the  code  relating  to  the  gen 
eral  subject  of  venue  and  the  commencement  of  actions  is 
provided  in  this  special  proceeding. 

I  do  not  controvert  the  proposition  that  if  in  this  arti 
cle  entitled  "  information  "  a  particular  venue  was  de 
clared  it  would  be  controlling  of  the  general  statute. 
But  I  insist  that  it  is  not  declared  by  the  words  "  the 
Circuit  Court  of  the  proper  county,"  because  those  words 
open  the  question,  "What  is  the  proper  county  ?"  How 
are  we  to  determine  it?  "  Oh,"  say  these  gentlemen, 
"  upon  the  opinion  of  the  particular  court  as  to  what 


140  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

county  in  a  given  case  is  convenient.  So  we  are  re 
mitted  to  the,  opinion  of  the  judge  as  to  what  is  con 
venient.  Instead  of  being  directed  to  a  forum  where  the 
relator  may  know  that  there  is  jurisdiction,  he  must 
either  himself  decide  the  question  of  convenience  or  take 
in  advance  the  opinion  of  the  court.  If  your  Honors 
please,  in  all  these  classes  of  special  proceeding — re 
plevin,  attachment,  ne  exeat,  mandate,  habeas  corpus — 
in  every  one  of  them,  unless  a  venue  is  particularly  de 
scribed  in  the  special  proceeding,  this  court,  whenever 
the  question  has  been  brought  to  its  attention,  has  deter 
mined  it  by  reference  to  the  general  statute  upon  the 
subject  of  venue. 

The  learned  counsel  said,  this  morning,  there  was  no 
declaration  of  a  venue  in  the  article  relating  to  habeas 
corpus,  but  that  it  was  brought  upon  this  principle  of 
convenience  in  the  county  where  the  party  was  restrained 
of  his  liberty.  It  must  have  been  an  inadvertent  state 
ment,  for  the  statute  on  the  subject  of  habeas  corpus  ex 
pressly  confers  jurisdiction  upon  the  courts  of  the  county 
where  the  restraint  takes  place. 

Now  let  me  hastily  run  through  some  of  these  cases. 
They  are  all  referred  to,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  in 
this  brief  which  we  will  submit  to  the  court.  The  first  is 
a  proceeding  to  disbar  under  the  statute.  The  statute 
says  that  it  may  be  had  "  in  any  court  of  record."  And 
yet,  when  the  subject  came  to  be  reviewed  by  this  court 
it  was  held  that  these  words  must  be  construed  with 
reference  to  the  other  statutes  conferring  jurisdiction,  and 
that  the  Criminal  Court,  though  a  court  of  record,  un 
questionably  did  not  have  jurisdiction  of  this  special  pro 
ceeding. 

The  next  special  proceeding  in  which  such  a  question 
arose  was  under  the  drainage  act,  a  special  proceeding 
in  a  very  strict  sense.  And  in  that  case  the  statute  pro 
vided  that  the  action  should  be  brought  *'  in  any  court 
of  competent  jurisdiction.  "  Are  not  these  words  wider 
than  the  terms  "  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  proper 
county  ?  "  Do  not  the  last  terms  contain  within  them 
selves  the  suggestion  of  a  reference  to  some  other  statute 


THE    LAWYER.  14! 

fixing  the  venue  of  actions?  But  here  it  was  said: 
"  May  be  brought  in  any  court  of  competent  jurisdic 
tion,"  and  yet,  his  Honor,  Judge  Zollars,  construing  those 
words,  held  that  the  action  must  be  brought  with  refer 
ence  to  the  general  provisions  as  to  venue  in  actions 
relating  to  real  property. 

Again,  there  is  no  special  provision  in  the  article  en 
titled  "  mandate  "  as  to  venue ;  and  we-  have  a  case  in 
which  this  argument,  drawn  from  a  supposed  conven 
ience,  was  disposed  of  by  this  court.  If  the  argument  of 
convenience,  which  Judge  Turpie  so  much  pressed,  has 
any  force,  has  it  not  equal,  if  not  greater,  force  in  the 
case  of  mandate,  where  the  act — the  official  act — which 
the  party  declines  to  do,  must  be  done  in  a  particular 
locality?  He  says  convenience  must  control  where  an 
official  act  has  been  done  that  amounts  to  intrusion  into 
an  office,  and  the  court  is  asked  to  restrain  it ;  but,  in 
case  of  the  refusal  to  do  a  particular  official  act  which 
must  be  done  in  a  given  locality,  would  not  the  argu 
ment  be  stronger  that,  as  the  act  was  to  be  done  in  a 
particular  county,  the  action  would  lie  in  the  courts  of 
that  county  ?  And  yet,  if  your  Honors  please,  we  have 
a  case  in  which,  notwithstanding  the  argument  of  con 
venience,  this  court  has  remitted  the  party  to  the  courts 
of  the  county  where  the  defendant  resided. 

The  case  of  The  State  vs.  The  Whitewater  Canal  Com 
pany,  in  8th  Indiana,  is  the  case  I  refer  to.  It  was  a 
mandate  to  compel  the  rebuilding  of  a  bridge  in  Dear 
born  county.  The  refusal  to  discharge  the  official  duty- 
was  there.  And  yet  this  court  held,  notwithstanding  it 
might  be  convenient  that  the  courts  of  Dearborn  county 
should  supervise  the  execution  of  this  corporate  duty, 
that  the  action  must  be  brought  in  the  county  where  the 
corporation  had  its  office.  The  court  say : 

"  It  is  assumed  that  this  action  is  local  in  its  nature  and 
must  be  brought  in  the  county  where  the  duty  sought 
to  be  enforced  is  to  be  performed." 

Precisely  as  the  gentlemen  say  here,  it  must  be  brought 
in  the  county  where  the  intrusion  into  the  office  has  oc 
curred,  and  yet  the  court  said  the  code  points  out  and 


142  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

defines  the  subject-matter  of  the  actions  which  must  be 
instituted  in  the  county  in  which  the  subject  of  the  ac 
tion  or  some  part  thereof  is  situated,  but  the  case  at  bar 
is  not  within  the  definition,  and,  therefore,  it  was  held 
that  there  was  no  jurisdiction  in  Dearborn  county. 

Let  us  take  the  action  of  replevin,  another  special 
proceeding.  In  the  case  of  Hodson  vs.  Warner,  in 
6oth  Indiana,  Jijdge  Worden,  speaking  for  the  court, 
says: 

"  It  is  claimed  that  an  action  of  replevin  is  local,  and 
must  be  brought  in  the  county  where  the  property  is  de 
tained,  and  that  unless  the  complaint  shows  the  deten 
tion  to  have  been  in  the  county  where  the  action  is 
brought,  the  court  will  have  no  jurisdiction  of  the  sub 
ject  thereof." 

Here,  again,  the  argument  of  convenience  might  be 
made.  The  property  is  here  detained.  It  will  be  con 
venient  if  the  venue  and  determination  of  the  case  is 
here.  But  the  court  say: 

"Authorities  are  cited  to  show  that,  at  common  law, 
the  action  of  replevin  was  local." 

Just  the  suggestion  we  had  from  the  learned  gentle 
man  this  morning. 

"  But  this  is  a  matter  which  is  regulated  by  our  statute. 
The  statute  provides  " — and  this  statute  referred  to  is 
the  general  statute  on  the  subject  of  venue,  not  any 
special  statute  in  this  special  proceeding — "  the  statute 
provides  that  certain  actions  shall  be  brought  in  the 
county  where  the  subject  thereof  is  situate  or  where  the 
cause  thereof  arose,  but  the  action  of  replevin  is  not 
mentioned  or  thus  localized." 

Then  it  is  provided  in  Section  33  that  "  in  all  other 
cases  the  action  shall  be  commenced  in  the  county  where 
the  defendants,  or  one  of  them,  has  his  usual  place  of 
residence." 

So  it  was  then  held,  notwithstanding  the  reference  to 
the  common-law* rule  as  to  venue  in  replevin,  notwith 
standing  the  suggestion  as  to  the  convenience  in  sucli 
case,  that  replevin,  special  proceeding  as  it  is,  is  governed 
by  the  general  statute  upon  the  subject  of  venue. 


THE    LAWYER.  143 

So,  again,  with  proceedings  in  bastardy,  in  the  case  of 
Haley  vs.  The  State,  6pth  Indiana.  Section  968  provides 
that  such  a  proceeding  may  be  commenced  before  "  any 
justice  of  the  peace  "  without  any  limitation  as  to  the 
county  or  township  in  which  it  is  brought.  Yet  it  is 
held  in  this  case,  Judge  Niblack  delivering  the  opinion — 

"  Such  proceedings  being  transitory  in  their  character 
under  the  code  must  be  commenced  in  the  county  in 
which  the  defendant  resides  when  he  is  a  resident  of  the 
State/' 

The  argument  of  convenience  might  well  be  used 
here.  It  may  be  that  the  mother  resides  here.  It  may 
be  that  the  putative  father  may  not  be  found  if  there  is 
any  delay.  All  of  these  suggestions  as  to  convenience 
apply  strongly.  But  the  court  has  not  left  the  venue  of 
these  actions  to  the  whim  of  the  judge,  but,  notwith 
standing  the  inconvenience  that  may  attach,  has  settled 
upon  general  principles  regulating  them. 

Attachment  and  garnishment  I  might  refer  to  as  other 
special  proceedings,  although  they  may  be  said  to  be  in 
some  sense  ancillary  to  another  action,  and  venue  may 
be  determined  by  that  fact ;  and  yet  in  such  cases  the 
court  say  the  general  rule  in  relation  to  personal  actions 
is  declared  by  Sec.  312  of  the  Code.  In  this  section  as 
amended  it  is  provided  : 

"  In  all  other  cases  the  action  shall  be  commenced  in 
the  county  where  the  defendants,  or  one  of  them,  has  his 
usual  place  of  residence." 

It  was  held  that  the  Wabash  Circuit  Court  had  no 
jurisdiction  of  a  proceeding  in  garnishment 

Now,  if  your  Honors  please,  I  want  to  call  attention  to 
the  case  of  The  State  vs.  The  Board,  in  49th  Indiana. 
This  was  a  case  where  a  statute  was  passed  providing 
that  a  certain  action  to  be  brought  by  the  Auditor  of  the 
State  for  the  failure  to  properly  assess  or  collect  certain 
taxes  might  be  brought,  as  the  statute  said,  "in  any 
court  in  this  State."  A  State  officer  was  to  be  the  plain 
tiff  or  relator,  and  the  statute  said  he  might  bring  the 
action  "  in  any  court  of  this  State."  And  yet  this  court, 
construing  those  terms,  apply  those  general  principles  as 


144  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

to  venue  of  which  I  have  been  speaking.  They  say  it 
could  not  have  been  intended  by  the  Legislature  that 
this  action  brought  by  Wildman,  as  auditor,  against  the 
Commissioners  of  Vanderburg  county,  could  be  brought 
in  Marion  county.  Again  they  go  back  and  take  hold 
of  these  general  provisions  of  our  code  as  to  venue,  and 
they  diminish  the  force  of  the  legislative  expression  so 
as  to  bring  it  within  the  control  of  these  general  provi 
sions.  The  court  say : 

"  By  the  sections  of  the  statute  above  set  out  the 
action  therein  provided  for  may  be  brought  in  any  court 
of  this  State.  If  this  language  is  to  receive  a  literal  in 
terpretation  it  would  lead  to  results  that  we  think  were 
not  contemplated  by  the  Legislature." 

And  then  they  go  on  and  say  that  it  must  be  con 
trolled  by  the  general  provision  as  to  venue,  and  hold 
that  the  action  against  the  commissioners  of  Vanderburg 
county,  notwithstanding  the  statute,  must  be  brought  in 
the  county  of  Vanderburg. 

There  is  another  case,  if  your  Honors  please,  to  which 
I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  show  you  how  strong  the 
tendency  and  drift  in  this  court  has  been  to  subordinate 
all  of  these  special  proceedings  to  the  general  rules  of 
practice  defined  by  our  code.  It  is  a  case  in  105  In 
diana.  This  was  a  divorce  case  and  the  question  was,  if 
I  recollect,  whether  a  change  of  venue  might  be  allowed. 
Your  honors  can  see  how  radical  the  question  is,  whether 
this  special  proceeding  of  divorce,  a  proceeding  under 
the  English  law  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  is  to  be 
treated  under  our  code  as  a  civil  action,  and  the  provi 
sions  of  the  code  as  to  changes  of  venue  made  appli 
cable.  The  opinion  was  by  Judge  Zollars,  and  I  be 
lieve  the  case  cited  in  the  opinion  was  also  decided  by 
the  same  learned  judge.  I  read  a  paragraph  or  two. 

".In  the  recent  case  of  Powell  vs.  Powell,  104  Indiana, 
1 8,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  question,  it  was 
held  that  where  the  procedure  is  prescribed  in  the  divorce 
act,  that  should  be  pursued  and  not  the  civil  code;  that 
so  far  as  a  procedure  is  provided  in  that  act,  it  may  be 
called  a  special  proceeding,  and  that  where  it  is  apparent 


THE    LAWYER.  145' 

that  the  Legislature  intended  that  certain  sections  ef  the 
civil  code  should  not  apply  in  divorce  cases  they  will  not 
be  applied." 

Notice  the  language !  "  Where  it  is  apparent !  "  And 
I  ask  your  Honors  to  apply  it,  and  tell  me  what  there  is 
in  this  article  establishing  the  special  proceeding  by  in- 
formatior^that  makes  it  apparent  that  the  Legislature  in 
tended  that  those  sections  of  the  ^code  relating  to  venue 
should  not  apply. 

"  It  was  further  held  that  under  the  code  divorce  cases 
are,  in  some  sense  at  least,  '  civil  actions/  and  that  the 
rules  of  pleading  and  practice  provided  in  the  civil  code 
will  apply  to  them,  except  to  the  extent  that  a  different 
procedure  may  be  provided  in  the  divorce  act,  and  to  the 
extent  that  it  may  be  apparent  that  the  Legislature  in 
tended  otherwise." 

This  indicates  the  drift  of  the  court,  as  well  as  the 
other  cases,  to  bring  these  special  proceedings,  so  far  as 
may  be  done  without  violence  to  the  special  statute,  under 
the  control  of  the  general  statute  regulating  the  practice 
in  our  courts. 

"As  a  result  of  these  holdings,  it  was  further  held  that 
the  above  section  of  the  civil  code  providing  for  a  change 
from  the  judge  is  applicable  to  divorce  cases,  and  that, 
upon  the  filing  of  the  proper  affidavit  under  that  section 
in  any  case,  the  change  must  be  granted.  We  can  see 
no  reason  why  the  reasoning  and  conclusions  in  that 
case  are  not  applicable  and  controlling  here.  Changes 
of  venue  are  provided  for  in  order  that  parties  litigant 
may  have  fair  and  impartial  trials,  and  hence  the  provi 
sion  for  a  change  from  an  interested  or  biased  judge,  and 
hence  also  the  provision  for  a  change  of  venue  from  the 
county  where  one  of  the  parties  may  have  an  undue  in 
fluence  over  the  citizens,  or  where  an  odium  may  attach 
to  one  of  the  parties,  or  to  his  cause  of  action  or  defense 
on  account  of  local  prejudice." 

Now  I  read  again : 

"  The  more  rational  conclusion  would  seem  to  be  that 
the  intention  was  that  such  cases  should  be  tried  in  im 
partial  tribunals,  and  that  as  no  provision  is  made  in  the 

10 


146  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

divorce  act  for  reaching  such  tribunals  by  a  change  of 
vemie,  when  necessary,  the  intention  was  that  resort 
might  and  should  be  had  to  the  code  of  civil  procedure. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  divorce  act  to  show  or  indicate 
an  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature  that  the 
above  section  of  the  code,  providing  for  a  change  of 
venue  from  the  county,  should  not  be  applicable  to  a  pro 
ceeding  for  a  divprce  in  a  proper  case,  unless  'it  be  the 
fact  that  no  such  change  is  provided  for  in  the  act,  and 
that  the  case  must  be  commenced  in  the  county  where 
the  plaintiff  resides." 

Now,  if  your  Honors  please,  I  use  that  case  to  show 
that  in  a  proceeding  in  an  especial  sense  special,  regulated 
by  a  statute  having  no  reference  anywhere  to  these  pro 
visions  of  the  code  as  to  change  of  venue,  the  rule  was 
established,  applicable  to  all  other  such  proceedings,  that 
the  provisions  of  the  general  code  as  to  practice  not  in 
consistent  with  the  provision  of  the  special  statute  should 
stand ;  and  I  venture  to  say  that,  without  overriding  the 
principles  of  that  case,  the  conclusion  cannot  be  avoided 
that  in  the  case  of  quo  warranto  or  information  the  gen 
eral  provisions  of  our  statute  as  to  venue  must  apply. 
Indeed,  in  the  use  of  the  words  "  The  Circuit  Court  of 
the  proper  county,"  as  I  have  already  said,  there  is  a 
suggestion  of  reference  to  another  statute  to  determine 
what  is  the  proper  county ;  the  Legislature  did  not  need 
to  repeat  what  had  been  elsewhere  enacted,  but  adopted 
it  by  these  words  of  reference. 

If  your  Honors  please,  it  is  not  in  a  strict  sense  an 
information  that  you'  have  before  you.  It  is  an  injunc 
tion  case.  To  be  sure,  that  is  ancillary  to  a  proceeding 
by  information,  but  the  appeal  is  from  an  order  granting 
an  injunction.  Is  there  any  doubt,  may  it  please  your 
Honors,  that  in  the  case  of  an  injunction  the  venue  is  in 
the  county  of  the  defendant's  residence  ?  Can  there  be 
any  doubt  about  that  ? 

It  seems,  then,  that  in  their  own  judgment  this  article 
entitled  "  Information  "  was  not  so  special,  not  so  com 
plete  in  itself  as  prescribing  a  new  and  exclusive  remedy 
and  all  its  attendants  and  circumstances,  but  that  they 


THE    LAWYER.  147 

might  go  out  and  incorporate  with  it  an  action  of  injunc 
tion,  where  the  venue,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  admit 
tedly  and  confessedly  controlled  by  the  general  statutes. 

The  court  has  been  compelled  to  adopt  this  construc 
tion  in  dealing  with  these  special  statutes.  There  was 
no  provision  for  trial  by  jury  in  the  quo  warranto  act. 
If  the  courts  are  to  treat  it  as  complete,  as  dealing  with  the 
subject  fully,  and  are  not  to  look  to  other  statutes  as  in 
corporated  ;  if  they  are  not  to  treat  it  as  a  civil  action 
and  give  to  the  trial  of  such  cases  all  those  incidents, 
privileges  and  limitations  that  belong  to  civil  actions, 
then  there  is  no  trial  by  jury;  and  yet  the  court,  in  a 
case  referred  to,  decided  that  a  trial  by  jury  was  allow 
able  because  it  was  a  civil  action,  and  the  trial  by  jury  in 
civil  actions  is  guaranteed  by  the  constitution.  Here 
'we  have,  then,  a  civil  action,  special  if  you  choose  to 
call  it,  without  any  definition  as  to  what  the  venue  shall 
be,  and  we  have  a  general  statute  regulating  civil  actions, 
declaring,  as  is  admitted,  that  in  a  case  like  this  the  venue 
is  in  Allen  county.  So  I  say,  your  Honors,  this  is  the 
threshold  question.  You  must  step  over  it  or  trample 
it  under  foot  before  you  can  invade  the  consideration  of 
questions  that  lie  further  along  in  this  case.  And  again, 
I  repeat,  whatever  source  it  comes  from,  whatever  needs 
it  is  supposed  to  subserve,  it  is  brutally  insulting  to  say 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana  that  they  should  con 
sider  questions  and  decide  the  rights  of  a  man  over 
whose  person  they  have  no  jurisdiction;  to  say  that  be 
cause  he  is  called  here  in  this  information  a  usurper  into 
an  office  this  high  court  must  usurp  functions  which 
have  been  denied  it  by  the  law,  in  order  to  cure  one 
usurpation  by  another. 

But,  if  your  Honors  please,  if  it  were  established  that 
you  had  acquired  jurisdiction  over  the  respondent  here, 
there  is  still  another  threshold  question  to  be  considered, 
and  that  relates  to  your  jurisdiction  of  the  subject-matter 
of  the  case.  Both  these  conditions  must  exist,  or  any 
opinion  you  may  deliver  upon  the  questions  involved 
other  than  these  is  obiter,  is 'intrusive,  is,  so  far  as  they 
may  fortify  any  man  in  a.  course  of  action  which  he  has 


148  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

entered  upon,  making  this  high  court  subservient  to 
uses  that  were  not  contemplated  by  law.  What  are  the 
jurisdictional  questions  as  to  the  subject-matter  that  are 
presented?  I  think  there  are  two,  if  your  Honors 
please,  as  this  case  now  presents  itself.  First,  have  the 
courts  of  this  State  the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to 
try  the  title  to  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  ?  Sec 
ondly,  if  that  be  conceded,  have  they  power,  by  injunc 
tion,  to  invade  the  legislative  halls,  and  restrain  a  co-or 
dinate  department  of  this  government  from  the  exercise 
of  its  will  and  pleasure?  Because,  if  your  Honors 
please,  I  think  this  action,  in  that  aspect  of  it — this 
injunction  restraining  Colonel  Robertson  from  presiding 
over  the  Senate  of  Indiana — not  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
Senate,  not  because  the  Senate  has  expressed  to  your 
Honors  any  such  wish,  not  because  they  have  appealed 
to  you  for  protection,  but  at  the  suggestion  of  a  man,  an 
individual,  that  you  should  issue  your  writ  of  injunction 
and  say  to  the  Senate  of  Indiana — for  it  is  so  said  when 
ever  you  say  that  Colonel  Robertson  shall  not  preside 
as  Lieutenant-Governor — you  shall  not  allow  the  re 
spondent  to  preside,  you  restrain  the  discretion  of  the 
Senate  itself.  Whenever  you  say,  as  this  writ  says  for 
you — and  I  must  criticise  it  in  respectful  terms,  much  as 
I  resent  the  idea  that  any  court  in  the  United  States  can 
intrude  into  the  legislative  halls  anywhere  in  these  States, 
or  in  our  general  government,  constituted  on  one  model 
of  three  co-ordinate  departments  of  government — that  a 
court  can  intrude  into  a  legislative  hall,  and  declare  to 
the  body  that  a  particular  person  shall  not  preside  over 
its  deliberations,  then  the  effect  is  most  certainly  restric 
tive.  But  I  should  discuss  these  questions  in  the  order 
in  which  I  have  suggested  them.  Is  there  jurisdiction  in 
the  courts  of  Indiana  to  try  the  title  to  the  office  of 
Governor  or  Lieutenant-Governor  ?  I  say  Governor  or 
Lieutenant-Governor  because,  may  it  please  your  Honors, 
if  you  have  the  jurisdiction  to  try  the  title  to  this  office 
claimed  by  Colonel  Robertson,  you  have  the  jurisdiction 
to  try  the  title  of  Isaac  P.  Gray  as  Governor  of  Indiana. 
Why  do  I  deny  this  jurisdiction  ?  Because,  if  your 


THE    LAWYER.  149 

Honors  please,  there  is  a  limit  to  your  jurisdiction.  It 
does  not  embrace  every  subject  or  every  person.  It  is 
limited  in  both  directions.  The  Constitution  of  Indiana 
provides  that  the  judicial  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Su 
preme  Court,  and  circuit  courts,  and  other  subordinate 
courts  or  other  courts.  I  believe  the  word  "  subordinate  " 
has  been  stricken  out  by  the  amendment.  But  if  I  find 
in  the  sariie  Constitution  an  express  grant  of  judicial 
power  in  a  given  case  to  another  tribunal  over  a  partic 
ular  question,  how  are  these  two  grants  to  be  construed  ? 
Is  not  the  general  grant  to  be  construed  as  if  it  had  been 
made  explicitly  and  in  the  same  section  subject  to  the 
exception  which  is  found  elsewhere  in  the  Constitution  ? 
I, do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  without  reference  to 
this  provision  in  our  Constitution  to  which  I  shall  pres 
ently  call  attention,  if  it  rested  upon  the  general  declara 
tion  establishing  three  co-ordinate,  co-equal,  and  co- 
sovereign  departments  of  this  government,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Indiana,  without  a  special  grant  of  power  in  the 
Constitution,  could  not  determine  the  question  in  the  case 
of  a  contest  as  to  who  was  or  who  was  not  the  Governor 
of  Indiana.  And  why,  if  your  Honors  please?  The 
very  idea  of  co-ordination,  the  very  essence  and  principle 
of  sovereignty's  gone  whenever  this  court  may  say  a  man 
is  or  is  not  Governor  of  Indiana,  and  he  shall  be  en 
joined  from  exercising  executive  functions.  Oh,  but  say 
the  learned  counsel,  the  court  doesn't  act  on  the  execu 
tive  department;  it  acts  on  the  person.  Wise  distinction  ! 
Worthy  of  that  subtle  refinement  of  intellect  for  which 
my  friend  Judge  Turpie  is  so  conspicuous.  To  be  sure 
it  matters  little  if  this  court  act  upon  Isaac  P.  Gray  as  an 
individual,  and  expels  him  from  the  office  of  Governor; 
the  result  is  the  same  precisely  as  if  they  had  acted  upon 
the  executive  department.  They  have  created  a  vacancy, 
or,  at  their  own  sweet  will,  have  installed  another  in  his 
place.  If  your  Honors  please,  that  tribunal  anywhere 
that  can  expel  the  chief  executive  and  put  another  in  his 
place  dominates  the  executive  department.  I  suppose 
my  friend  would  say  that  if  I  should  seize  upon  some  ong 
of  the  judges  who  are  so  kindly  attending  to  what  I  am 


150  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

saying,  and  pitch  him  out  of  the  window,  that  I  would  be 
dealing  with  the  person  simply,  not  with  the  court,  and 
yet  the  distinction  would  be  one  that  I  think  neither  the 
judge  that  went  out  of  the  window  nor  the  four  that  re 
mained  here  would  appreciate. 

No,  sir,  the  doctrine  that  the  courts — and,  if  your 
Honors  please,  it  is  not  simply  this  august  tribunal,  but 
the  Marion  Circuit  Court  or  the  Posey  Circuit  Court — 
may  expel  or  install  the  chief  executive  of  Indiana  is  not 
to  be  admitted. 

Now  there  is,  I  think,  a  misconception,  and  I  thought 
that  in  some  of  the  questions  propounded  by  the  judges 
this  misconception  was  very  apparent.  We  are  so  much 
in  the  habit  of  thinking  and  saying  that  the  courts  are  to 
settle  all  disputes  of  every  sort,  and  this  court  is  so  much 
in  the  habit  of  regarding  itself  as  the  Supreme  Appellate 
Court  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  having  jurisdiction  of  all 
questions,  that  you  have  not  considered  the  questions 
which  are  seldom  presented  to  us,  as  to  the  limits  of  your 
power.  And  so,  popularly,  we  say,  whenever  any  ques 
tion  arises,  "  Take  it  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Let  us  have 
their  opinion  about  it."  The  courts  themselves,  I  may- 
say,  without  any  disrespect,  have  come  to  regard  their 
functions  to  be  that  of  the  mother  hen — to  cover  every 
thing  that  is  in  alarm  or  dispute. 

No  one  rejoices  more  than  I,  if  your  Honors  please, 
that  those  questions  of  personal  right,  which  were  once  left 
to  the  arbitrament  of  force,  may  be  now  confided  to  the 
peaceful  adjudication  of  courts.  But  it  is  quite  another 
question  whether  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State,  or  of  the 
United  States,  can  make  and  unmake  the  chief  executive. 

It  was  suggested,  in  case  a  usurper  entered  into  the 
office  of  Governor  Gray,  and  expelled  him  and  got  pos 
session  of  the  great  seal,  whether  this  court  could  not 
turn  that  usurper  out.  Why,  if  your  Honors  please,  the 
Constitution  of  Indiana  has  not  left  the  chief  executive 
to  that  ready  and  willing,  and,  I  have  no  doubt,  wise  help 
which  you  would  render  him  by  sending  your  sheriff  to 
his  rescue.  It  has  constituted  him  a  co-ordinate,  self- 
contained,  self-defended  branch  of  the  government  of  the 


THE    LAWYER.  15! 

State  of  Indiana.  It  has  put  at  his  disposal  the  army  and 
the  navy  of  the  State.  He  does  not  need  to  appeal,  in 
the  defense  of  his  prerogative,  when,  by  the  formalities 
of  the  Constitution,  he  has  been  inducted  into  the  office, 
to  the  sheriff  of  any  court.  So  your  sheriff  is  for  your 
protection.  He  has  a  right  to  call  upon  the  body  of  the 
community  to  preserve  your  dignity,  to  repress  intrusion, 
and  to  punish  contempts.  But  the  executive- — and  may 
I  not  suggest  the  Legislature  of  this  State — is  clothed 
in  its  own  right  with  ample  powers  of  self-protection.  I 
do  not  think  that  the  Legislature,  or  either  branch  of  it, 
could  allow  any  executive  or  administrative  officer  of  any 
court  to  intrude  into  its  precincts  with  any  writ.  It  has 
the  power  to  hedge  itself  around,  and  to  lay  the  duty  upon 
the  men  who  serve  it  to  protect  it. 

So  it  is,  if  your  Honors  please,  that  we  are  seldom — 
and  it  is  well  so — brought  to  confront  these  fundamental 
principles  of  government,  and  of  the  limitations  of  the 
power  of  the  several  departments  which  are  involved 
here. 

Justice  Mitchell — In  the  event,  General  Harrison,  that 
the  Senate  should  undertake  to  repel  the  intrusion  of 
Colonel  Robertson  and  imprison  him  for  contempt,  would 
the  court  have  no  power  to  interfere  ? 

Senator  Harrison — Very  clearly  not,  if  your  Honors 
please;  no  more  than  the  Legislature  would  have  the 
right  to  interfere  if  you  should  imprison  him  here  for  a 
contempt  of  your  court ;  not  a  whit  more*. 

Justice  Mitchell — Have  we  not  a  recent  eminent  ex 
ample  where  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
took  an  individual  out  of  the  hands  of  Congress  and  im 
prisoned  him  ? 

Senator  Harrison — Yes,  sir,  undoubtedly;  undoubt 
edly,  under  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  you  might  consider 
whether  the  man  was  lawfully  restrained.  That  I  do  not 
deny. 

Justice  Mitchell — Then  we  would  have  to  inquire 
whether  or  not  he  would  have  the  right  to  go  there  and 
offer  to  preside  ? 

Senator    Harrison — No,   sir;   not  that  at  all.     You 


152  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

could  not  decide  the  question  of  his  right  to  preside,  or 
enforce  such  a  judgment,  but  you  might,  perhaps,  de 
cide,  as  in  that  case,  that  the  man  must  be  discharged 
upon  habeas  corpus.  That  was  a  case  of  an  examina 
tion  before  a  committee  of  the  body,  and  the  decision 
was  as  to  whether  they  might  or  might  not  imprison  him 
for  a  refusal  to  answer  certain  questions.  But  let  me 
ask  your  Honor  a  question,  not,  of  course,  for  answer ; 
and  I  desire  to  say  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  at  any 
time  to  have  any  suggestion  from  any  member  of  the 
court  if  there  is  any  point  that  I  am  discussing  upon 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  court,  any  judge  would  de 
sire  to  have  me  express  myself  more  fully. 

Justice  Mitchell — I  only  wanted  to  draw  out  your 
idea,  because  I  feel  the  force  of  your  suggestions.  If 
they  were  of  no  consequence,  I  would  not  have  asked 
the  question. 

Senator  Harrison — I  cannot  believe  that  this  court 
can  send  into  the  Senate  of  Indiana  any  writ.  I  do  not 
say  there  might  not  questions  arise  as  to  the  Governor, 
collateral  in  some  actions,  that  this  court  may  pass  upon  ; 
but  what  I  do  hold  is  that,  when  conformable  to  the  con 
stitution,  the  Legislature — the  political  department  of 
this  government — have  recognized  a  man  as  President  or 
Governor,  the  court  may  not  inquire  whether  he  is  such 
or  not. 

Justice  Zollars — Allow  me  to  put  a  question.  I  be 
lieve  it  was  puf  the  other  day,  and  answered  that  it  was 
not  a  supposable  case.  But  now,  suppose  the  Legisla 
ture  should  count  the  votes  for  a  man  and  declare  him 
to  be  Governor  at  this  time,  and  there  came  a  conflict 
between  him  and  the  incumbent,  is  there  any  remedy  for 
that  conflict  through  the  courts  at  all  ? 

Senator  Harrison — None  whatever,  if  your  Honors 
please.  That  is  very  apparent.  Into  such  condition  as 
that  the  courts  cannot  enter.  You  may  try  questions  of 
assault  and  battery  or  of  treason  growing  out  of  the  con 
flict,  but  not  the  title  of  the  claimants  to  the  office. 

Justice  Zollars — That  is  your  idea  ? 
]    Senator  Harrison — That  is  my  idea.     If  the  courts 


THE    LAWYER.  153 

could  control  matters  of  that  kind  we  would  have  had 
no  rebellion.  I  do  not  say  that  there  may  not  be  cases 
where  your  Honors  could  punish  an  individual,  where 
you  could  try  and  condemn  and  execute  him  for  treason. 
Certainly,  there  might  be  such  cases.  But  I  do  hold 
this :  that  where  the  Legislature  has,  according  to  the 
forms  of  the  Constitution,  canvassed  the  vote  for  Gov 
ernor  or  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  has  declared  a  person 
to  be  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  has  recog 
nized  him  as  such,  then  this  court  cannot  dispossess  him 
of  his  office. 

Justice  Mitchell — Now,  right  there.  Of  course,  we  may 
not  be  able  to  dispossess  him,  but  can  the  court  pro 
nounce  upon  the  legal  question  involved  ?  Is  not  the 
question  of  the  right  to  an  office  a  judicial  question? 
That  is  an  idea  that  I  wish  to  have  elaborated.. 

Senator  Harrison — If  your  Honors  please,  as  I  was 
saying,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  constitution  of  these 
three  departments  of  itself,  without  anything  else — 
although  I  will  show  your  Honors  there  is  much  else — 
necessarily  prohibits  that.  Has  any  one  ever  questioned 
that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  could  not 
have  passed  upon  whether  Hayes  or  Tilden  was  elected 
President?  Did  any  good  lawyer  suggest  that  it 
might  ? 

Justice  Zollars — That  was  another  question.  In  that 
case  there  was  no  question  about  there  having  been  an 
election  at  the  proper  time. 

Senator  Harrison — Ah,  if  your  Honor  pleases,  that  is 
too  fine  a  discrimination.  When  they  were  or  were  not 
elected  does  not  test  the  limits  of  the  power  of  a  court. 
.  The  test  is,  may  they  approach  the  question  at  all 
directly  ?  If  they  may  approach  it  at  all  in  such  a  case, 
then  they  may  decide  it  upon  the  question  that  the  time 
for  a  proper  election  had  not  arrived,  or  that  one  man 
may  get  more  votes  than  another.  The  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  simply  provides  that  the  returns  from 
the  electoral  colleges  shall  be  opened  by  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent  in  the  presence  of  the  two  houses,  and  they  shall  be 
counted.  That  is  all.  And  yet  it  was  agreed,  in  the 


154  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

face  of  the  great  exigency  that  we  confronted  then,  an 
exigency  that  seemed  likely  at  one  time  to  involve  blood 
shed,  that,  great  as  the  courts  were,  wise  and  ample  as 
are  the  powers  confided  to  them,  there  was  no  relief  in 
the  courts  of  the  United  States.  It  was  a  political  ques 
tion.  It  might  involve  war,  but  the  courts  could  not 
solve  the  trouble. 

Justice  Zollars — That  is  not  the  question  that  is  trou 
bling  Judge  Mitchell  and  myself,  as  indicated  by  our 
questions.  The  difficulty,  in  my  mind,  is  back  of  all 
that.  Nobody  has  ever  contended  that  the  court  might 
have  power  to  settle  the  question  as  to  who  was  elected, 
but  back  of  that  is  the  constitutional  question,  the  legal 
question,  as  to  whether  or  not  there  may  be  an  election. 
That  is  the  question  that  I  wish  to  hear  discussed  now. 
Whether  the  decision  of  that  question  is  exclusively  with 
the  Legislature. 

Senator  Harrison — In  the  very  nature  of  things  it  must 
be  so,  or  else  their  power  over  the  subject  is  limited.  I 
take  it,  if  your  Honors  please,  that  the  counsel  have 
quibbled  with  the  provision  of  our  Constitution,  which 
re-enforces  this  general  idea  I  have  been  advocating,  that 
it  does  not  matter  one  whit  whether  somebody  raises  the 
question  whether  the  election  was  to  take  place  at  a  par 
ticular  time ;  if  the  decision  of  the  political  question  as 
to  who  is  Governor,  and  when  he  became  Governor,  rests 
with  the  Legislature,  then  no  phase  of  it  is  reserved  to 
the  courts  for  determination.  If  your  Honors  please,  the 
reason  for  all  this  is  very  obvious.  The  Constitution 
and  the  law  were  very  careful  to  place  the  court  where 
it  might  never  become  the  subject  of  ridicule ;  very  care 
ful  never  to  confide  to  it  powers  that  it  could  not  exe 
cute.  There  are  certain  questions  of  this  kind  upon 
which  the  judgment  of  courts  must  be  futile.  In  the 
very  nature  of  things  the  Legislature  stands  so  related  to 
this  question  that  it  was  wisely,  by  our  Constitution,  in 
vested  with  the  decision  of  the  whole  matter,  and  not  a 
fragment  of  it. 

I  have  said  that  the  Constitution  makes  a  special  grant 
of  power  over  this  subject  to  the  Legislature — 


THE    LAWYER.  155 

"  Contested  elections  for  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor  shall  be  determined  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law." 

Now,  if  your  Honors  please,  I  want  to  say  a  word 
about  the  manner  in  which  this  court  ought  to  approach 
the  construction  and  consideration  of  that  article  of  the 
Constitution,  and  of  the  others  to  which  I  shall  allude 
presently.  My  learned  friend  says  the  Constitution  is  to 
be  strictly  construed  because  it  is  a  grant  of  power  from 
the  people.  But  the  question  here  is  not  one  of 'limiting 
a  power;  it  is  a  question  whether  this  court  will  assume 
it  or  leave  it  where  the  Constitution  has  placed  it.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  the  excess,  or  extent,  or  enlargement 
of  this  section  at  all.  It  is  a  question  whether  the  court 
shall  pass  upon  this  section  so  specific  in  character,  and 
assume  to  have  jurisdiction  under  the  general  clause  of 
the  Constitution  apportioning  the  judicial  power  to  the 
courts.  Is  there  any  doubt  about  what  the  construction 
ought*  to  be?  When  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
have  dealt  with  the  particular  question,  and  said  that  its 
decision  should  be  confided  to  one  tribunal,  shall  the 
general  grant  of  judicial  power  be  strained  to  embrace 
some  part  of  it?  Upon  this  question  of  the  right  to 
elect  a  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  I  may  as  well  refer  to 
it  now,  the  same  principle  should  be  applied.  The  Con 
stitution  is  to  be  strictly  construed  against  the  right  of 
the  people  that  made  it  to  elect  their  own  officers !  That 
is  the  argument  of  my  friend.  If  there  is  a  strict  con 
struction  to  be  applied,  it  should  be  in  the  interest  of  the 
people,  that  something  may  not  be*  taken  to  have  been 
granted  that  the  people  did  not  intend  to  give.  But  is 
strict  construction  to  be  applied  to  the  question  whether 
they  have  not  reserved  the  power  to  themselves  to  select 
a  Lieutenant-Governor  by  their  own  votes  ?  Would  not 
that  be  a  perversion  of  the  doctrine  to  which  my  friend 
alluded,  that  there  should  be  a  strict  construction  of  the 
Constitution  ?  Now,  if  your  Honors  please,  with  refer 
ence  to  the  meaning  of  this  special  clause :  "  Contested 
elections  for  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  be 
determined" — SHALL  be  determined — "by  the  General 


156  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Assembly."  May  I  ask  your  Honors,  especially  as  it  is 
a  question  of  taking  jurisdiction  yourselves,  and  denying 
it  to  the  Legislature,  why  that  question  should  be  ap 
proached  in  a  technical  spirit? 

As  my  friend,  the  Attorney-General,  who  has  so  ably 
presented  the  questions  in  this  case,  has  said,  to  contest 
an  election  is  to  deny  it.  The  ground  of  the  denial  may 
be  that  some  one  else  was  elected  and  not  this  man,  or  it 
may  be  that  there  was  no  election  at  all,  and  that  some 
person  holding  by  appointment  is  entitled  to  exercise  the 
duties  of  the  office.  But  in  either  event  the  election  of 
Colonel  Robertson  is  denied;  it  is  controverted;  it  is 
contested ;  it  is  impeached.  And  how  shall  this  court 
say  that  if  that  honorable  man,  whom  I  am  glad  to  say 
is  not  here  as  relator,  who  was  his  competitor  before  the 
people,  had  been  applying  for  this  writ  of  mandate  im 
peaching  Colonel  Robertson's  title  upon  any  question,  it 
would  have  been  a  contest;  but  because  a  person  who 
holds  or  claims  to  hold  the  office  under  designation  by 
the  Senate  of  Indiana  comes  here  saying,  "  Though  you 
received  the  majority  of  the  legal  votes  of  Indiana,  you 
are  not  elected ;  I  contest  your  election  and  claim  to 
exercise  the  duties  of  the  office  myself;  "  it  is  not  a  con 
test.  This  court  is  invited  to  say,  "  We  will  diminish 
this  power,  confided  by  the  Constitution  to  the  Legis 
lature,  that  the  political  department  might  deal  with  that 
political  question,  and  we  will  absorb  it  for  the  judiciary; 
we  will  assume  to  settle  the  question  whether  the  Legis 
lature  rightly  opened  and  canvassed  those  votes — whether 
there  was  a  vacancy."  Is  it  not  better,  if  your  Honors 
please,  that  the  whole  question  should  go  to  one  tribunal 
or  the  other,  and  that  we  should  not  engage  in  any  hair 
splitting  in  attempting  to  divide  it?  This  is  the  case  of 
a  contested  election  for  Lieutenant-Governor.  It  is  the 
case  of  an  election  denied,  controverted,  challenged. 
And  the  Legislature,  by  express  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution,  is  to  deal  with  it,  and,  as  I  have  suggested,  for 
a  very  obvious  reason. 

In  a  case  in  2Oth  Kansas,  page  702,  there,  is  a  very 
clear  statement  of  these  limitations  upon  the  power  of 
the  judiciary: 


THE    LAWYER.  157 

"  Within  certain  constitutional  restrictions  the  execu 
tive,  legislative  and  judicial  powers  of  the  State  are  in 
dependent  and  supreme,  and  neither  has  the  right  to 
enter  upon  the  exclusive  domain  of  the  other.  We 
should  pass  beyond  the  limits  of  our  own  power  to 
judge  of  the  election  or  qualifications  of  a  member  of 
the  Legislature,  and  as  the  Constitution  has  expressly 
confided  this  power  to  another  body,  we  must  leave  it 
where  it  has  been  deposited  by  the  fundamental  law." 

Now,  if  your  Honors  please,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that,  entirely  outside  and  independent  of  that  provision 
of  our  Constitution  which  makes  each  house  of  the 
General  Assembly  the  judge  of  the  election  and  qualifi 
cations  of  its  own  members,  that  would  be  true,  inher 
ently,  and  without  any  such  constitutional  provision  at 
all.  "  Because  if  this  court  might  decide  who  were  and 
who  were  not  members  of  the  Legislature,  this  court 
would  dominate  the  Legislature,  and  if  we  are  at  liberty 
to  interfere  in  this  case,  or  if  with  the  consent  of  the 
Legislature  even,  where  the  Legislature  asked  it,  we 
assume  jurisdiction,  we  may  review  all  similar  decisions 
of  that  body,  and  in  the  end  bring  the  legislative  power 
of  the  State  in  conflict  with  the  judicial.  The  objections 
to  such  a  course  are  so  strong  and  obvious  that  all  must 
acknowledge  them." 

In  a  case  to  which  the  attention  of  the  court  has  been 
called,  and  which  I  have  here  before  me,  28th  Arkansas, 
this  precise  question  was  considered  by  the  supreme  ju 
dicial  tribunal  of  that  State,  and  under  a  constitutional 
provision  almost  identical  with  our  own.  I  will  read  a 
brief  extract  from  the  opinion : 

"  The  argument  is  pressed  here  that  if  the  Governor 
be  a  usurper,  and  his  seat  not  contested  before  the  Legis 
lature,  the  people  are  governed  by  a  mere  trespasser,  and, 
if  the  Attorney-General  cannot  sue  out  quo  warranto, 
and  this  court  decide  who  is  elected,  there  is  no  remedy, 
and  that  rights  so  dear  and  rights  so  sacred  to  the  people 
can  never  be  thus  violated  in  a  just  government,  and  no 
redress  offered.  This  is  but  changing  the  form  of  the 
sophism,  and  rs  answered  by  the  same  solution.  The 


158  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

question  is  in  whom  shall  so  saCred  a  trust  be  reposed. 
If  in  the  Attorney-General  and  a  .few  judges,  and  they 
should  not  execute  it,  would  not  the  same  result  be  pro 
duced  ?  Shall  the  Governor  of  the  State,  the  head  of 
the  executive  department,  be  subject  to  removal  by  the 
courts  of  the  State  ?  Shall  these  departments  be  co-ordi 
nate,  co-equal  in  strength  and  dignity,  or  shall  the  officers 
of  one  have  power  to  remove  the  incumbent  of  the  other, 
and  thus  dictate  his  policy  or  hold  the  executive  at  his 
mercy  ?  It  seems  to  be  one  of  the  elementary  principles 
of  our  government  that  the  departments  should  be  co 
ordinate  and  co-equal,  and  that  the  courts  of  the  State 
move  forward  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  free  from 
executive  policy  and  beyond  executive  control.  The 
Governor  is  clothed  with  the  manhood  that  places  him 
above  the  whims,  and  stronger  than  any  prejudice  that 
could  possibly  exist  in  a  court,  and  leaves  his  position  to 
those  who,  under  the  Constitution,  are  to  designate  the 
proper  incumbent,  and  who  are  to  try  him  for  crimes  or 
misdemeanors  in  office;  and  all  the  presumptions  of  in 
tegrity  that  can  and  should  weigh  in  favor  of  a  court 
must  be  allowed  in  favor  of  the  representative  men  of 
the  people." 

If  it  be  true  that  this  court — and  if  it  is  true,  it  is  true 
also  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States — can,  upon  some 
assumption  that  an  election  did  not  take  place  at  the 
proper  time,  or,  in  the  case  of  an  election  of  a  President, 
that  the  college  of  electors  did  not  meet  at  the  proper 
time  in  any  State,  or  that  their  vote  was  not  properly 
recorded — if  the  courts  may,  upon  the  assumption  of  an 
Attorney-General,  or  a  rival  claimant  for  the  governor 
ship,  or  the  presidency,  consider  and  decide  such  ques 
tions,  then,  if  your  Honors  please,  that  principle  of 
checks  and  balances  upon  which  our  National  govern 
ment  was  formed,  and  after  which  our  State  government 
is  modeled,  is  completely  and  forever  at  an  end. 

In  the  case  in  4th  Wisconsin — and  I  should  say 
with  reference  to  that  case,  that  there  was  no  such  pro 
vision  in  the  Constitution  as  we  have  here,  lodging  the 
counting  of  the  votes  and  the  declaration  of  the  result 


THE    LAWYER.  159 

and  the  induction  of  the  Governor  into  office  in  the 
Legislature — the  votes  were  canvassed  by  a  State  board 
of  canvassers.  It  was  claimed  in  that  case  that  Mr. 
Barstow  and  his  friends  had  secured  a  canvass  in  his 
favor  by  the  most  outrageous  and  widespread  election 
frauds.  I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  discussion  of 
the  question  by  Mat  Carpenter  and  counsel  It  is  full 
of  historical  illustrations  and  of  references  to  the  most 
reputable  authors  upon  constitutional  law  and  govern 
mental  philosophy.  He  may  go  further  in  his  conclu 
sions  than  I  would  go,  or  this  court  may  follow :  but  a 
perusal  of  the  cogent  and  well-illustrated  reasons  he 
gives  why  the  judicial  department  should  not  have  con 
trol  of  the  question  who  is  and  who  is  not  Governor, 
cannot  but  be  useful  to  any  student  of  the  law.  After 
alluding  to  an  objection  urged  by  M.  Turgot  to  our 
National  Constitution,  that  it  undertook  to  balance  these 
different  departments  as  if  the  same  equilibrium  of  pow 
ers  which  had  been  thought  necessary  to  balance  the 
enormous  preponderance  of  royalty  could  be  of  any  use 
in  a  Republican  form  of  government  based  upon  the 
equality  of  the  citizens,  Mr.  Carpenter  says : 

"  This  objection,  if  well  taken,  applies  to  our  National 
as  well  as  State  governments ;  and  to  justify  the  neces 
sity  for  this  division  of  powers,  this  balancing  and  equi 
librium  of  powers,  Mr.  Adams  put  forth  his  defence  of 
the  Constitution,  which,  as  a  general  treatise  upon  the 
science  of  government  and  a  commentary  upon  our  own, 
is  regarded  as  an  authority.  What  the  dreaming,  theo 
rizing  Frenchman  regarded  as  a  blemish,  the  great 
American  patriot  regarded  as  a  crowing  excellence.  In 
his  preface  to  that  work  Mr.  Adams  says :  '  Represen 
tations  instead  of  collections  of  the  people ;  a  total  sepa 
ration  of  the  executive  from  the  legislative  power,  and 
of  the  judicial  from  both;  and  the  balance  in  the  legis 
lature  by  three  independent,  equal  branches,  are,  perhaps, 
the  only  three  discoveries  in  the  Constitution  of  a  free 
government  since  the  institution  of  Lycurgus.'  " 

Mr.  Wirt,  in  a  case  brought  to  his  attention,  and  re 
ported  141  the  first  opinions  of  the  Attorney-General  of 


160  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  State,  says,  on  the  question  submitted  to  him : 
"  Whether,  in  any  case,  an  injunction  is  binding  upon 
the  executive  department  of  the  government ;  and  sec 
ond,  if  so,  whether  an  injunction  is  binding  upon  the  of 
ficers  of  the  treasury — " 

"  On  the  first  and  second  questions  I  am  of  the  opin 
ion  that  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  the  judicial  branch 
of  our  government  to  enjoin  the  'executive  from  any 
duty  specially  devolved  upon  it  by  the  legislative  branch 
of  the  government,  or  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  If  it  were  otherwise,  it  would  be  in  the  power 
of  the  judicial  branch  of  the  government  to  arrest  the 
whole  power  of  the  other  two  branches.  My  opinion  is 
that  the  judiciary  can  no  more  arrest  the  executive  in 
the  execution  of  a  constitutional  law  than  they  can  arrest 
the  Legislature  itself  in  passing  the  law.  It  would  be 
easy  to  show  that  the  existence  of  such  a  power  in  the 
judiciary  would  place  the  existence,  not  only  of  the 
government,  but  of  the  Nation  itself,  at  the  mercy  of  that 
body  in  every  crisis,  both  of  war  or  peace.  It  is,  there 
fore,  in  my  opinion,  essential  to  the  government  to  assert 
for  the  executive  this  independence  of  action." 

In  the  celebrated  Dorr  case,  in  Rhode  Island,  the 
court,  in  charging  the  jury,  is  quoted  by  Mr.  Carpenter 
as  saying  : 

"  Courts  take  notice  without  proof  offered  from  the 
bar  what  the  Constitution  is,  or  was,  and  who  is  or  was 
the  Governor  of  their  own  State.  It  belongs  to  the 
Legislature  to  exercise  this  high  duty  [that  of  canvas 
sing  votes].  It  is  the  Legislature  which,  in  the  exer 
cise  of  its  delegated  sovereignty,  counts  the  votes  and 
declares  whether  a  Constitution  be  adopted,  or  a  Gov 
ernor  elected,  or  not ;  and  we  cannot  revise  nor  reverse 
their  acts,  in  this  particular,  without  usurping  their 
power.  Were  the  votes  on  the  adoption  of  our  present 
Constitution  now  offered  here,  to  prove  that  it  was  or 
was  not  adopted,  or  those  given  for  the  Governor  under 
it,  to  prove  that  he  was  or  was  not  elected,  we  would  not 
receive  the  evidence  ourselves — we  could  not  permit  it 
to  pass  to  the  jury.  And  why  not?  Because,  if  we  do 


THE   LAWYER.  l6l 

so,  we  should  cease  to  be  a  mere  judicial,  and  become 
a  political  tribunal,  with  the  whole  sovereignty  in  our 
hands.  Neither  the  people  nor  the  Legislature  would 
be  sovereign.  We  should  be  sovereign,  or  you  would 
be  sovereign  ;  and  we  should  de^l  out  to  parties  litigant, 
here  at  our  bar,  sovereignty  to  this  or  that,  according  to 
rules  or  laws  of  our  own  making,  and  heretofore  un 
known  in  courts." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  case  the  court  said  that 
it  belongs  to  the  Legislature  to  decide  whether  there  was 
an  election.  That  is  precisely  the  case  which  has  been 
supposed  to  take  this  case  out  of  the  provision  of  the 
Constitution  to  which  I  have  just  referred,  confiding  to 
the  Legislature  the  power  to  determine  who  has  been 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor.  Dorr  and 
his  friends  had  gotten  up  a  government,  and  they  held  an 
election.  It  was  not  a  question  of  how  many  votes  Dorr 
got,  or  somebody  else,  but  it  was  distinctly,  as  here, 
whether  any  election  could  be  held.  The  political  de 
partment  of  the  State  had  held  that  it  could  not  be  held, 
and  the  court  trying  him  said  that  was  conclusive.  And 
it  must  be  equally  conclusive  here,  when  our  Legislature, 
under  the  forms  of  the  law,  or  if  there  was  lacking  any 
due  form  of  law  it  was  lacking  simply  because  certain 
members  of  one  branch  of  the  Legislature,  duly  notified, 
as  these  papers  show,  by  the  Speaker,  of  his  purpose  to 
discharge  a  constitutional  duty,  refused  to  attend  and 
discharge  theirs,  has  declared  Robertson  to  have  been 
elected  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  has  inducted  him  into 
office. 

And,  if  your  Honors  please,  the  cases  of  Collins  and 
of  Biddle  against  Willard  do  not  at  all  militate  against 
this  doctrine.  In  the  case  of  Collins  the  Legislature 
passed  a  law  providing  that  there  should  be  an  Attorney- 
General  who  should  be  elected  by  the  Legislature.  Be 
fore  the  Legislature  adjourned  the  Governor  assumed  to 
appoint  an  Attorney-General.  I  believe  our  distin 
guished  fellow-citizen,  Joseph  A.  Wright,  was  then  Gov 
ernor  of  the  State.  He  first  ordered  a  commission  to 
Isaac  Blackford  as  Attorney-General,  and  Secretary  of 
ii  •  ' 


I  62  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

State  Collins,  upon  his  direction,  issued  it.  It  was 
put  into  the  mails,  addressed  to  Isaac  Blackford,  and, 
after  it  had  been  thus  addressed,  some  one,  by  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Governor,  recovered  the  commission  from  the 
mails  and  inserted  the 'name  of  Judge  Morrison,  erasing 
the  name  of  Judge  Blackford.  The  question  came  be 
fore  the  courts,  not  involving  any  political  power  or 
question,  but  involving  the  question  simply  whether 
there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Attorney-General 
that  could  be  filled  by  the  Governor  by  appointment. 
And  it  was  held  that,  because  under  the  law  the  power 
was  reserved  to  the  Legislature  to  appoint,  it  could 
not  be  said  that  they  had  declined  to  exercise  that 
power  while  they  yet  remained  in  session.  That  was 
all. 

The  other  case,  if  your  Honors  please,  was  not  a  ques 
tion  of  the  election  of  a  man  to  a  political  office — the 
Biddle  case — but  the  election  of  a  man  to  this  bench. 
And  this  court  was  passing  upon  the  question  of  the 
validity  of  the  election  of  a  man  who  was  sitting  here  as 
a  member  of  this  court.  Is  there  anything  incongruous 
or  contrary  to  any  part  of  my  argument  in  that  suggestion  ? 
Upon  the  other  hand,  does  it  not  fall  in  with  it  that  this 
court  is  to  decide  who  its  own  members  are  ? 

If  your  Honors  please,  suppose  the  parties  to  this  ac 
tion  were  reversed.  Sometimes  we  get  a  better  view  of 
an  object  by  turning  it  around.  Suppose  Colonel  Rob 
ertson  were  the  relator  and  Green  Smith  the  respondent 
Suppose  Colonel  Robertson  had  alleged  that  he  was  duly 
elected  Lieutenant-Governor ;  that  the  vote  had  been  can 
vassed,  and  that  he  had  been  sworn  into  office  conform* 
ably  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  and  that  Green 
Smith  was  presiding  over  the  Senate  in  usurpation  of  his 
right  to  preside  there,  and  that  he  should  have  come  to 
your  Honors  now,  and  asked  for  an  injunction  to  restrain 
Green  Smith,  who  had  been  chosen  by  a  majority  of  the 
Senate  to  exercise  the  functions  of  President  of  the 
Senate.  Do  your  Honors  think  you  would  have  enter 
tained  jurisdiction  in  such  a  case,  or  that  any  court 
would  ?  That  you  would  assume  to  say  to  the  Senate 


THE    LAWYER.  163 

of  Indiana  who  should  preside  over  it,  and  who  should 
not?  Or  to  the  joint  convention,  assembled  conform 
ably  to  the  law  of  Congress,  in  the  execution  of  a  federal 
duty,  who  should  or  should  not  preside  over  it  ?  And 
yet,  just  that  has  been  done  here,  if  your  Honors  please. 
And  that  is  the  second  branch  of  this  question  of  juris 
diction,  upon  which  I  shall  say  a  word. 

You  are  asked  to  sustain  an  injunction  that  does  not 
run  according  to  the  will  of  the  Senate.  The  Senate 
have  not  invoked  your  power.  Green  Smith .  is  the 
relator.  To  do  so  would  be  to  lay  the  Senate  of  Indiana 
at  your  feet  and  say  to  them,  "  Whatever  your  view  may 
be ;  whatever  the  wish  of  the  majority  of  your  members 
may  be,  Robert  S.  Robertson,  at  your  request  even,  shall 
not  preside  over  you."  No,  if  your  Honors  please,  this 
writ  of  injunction  is  sui  generis.  It  occupies  a  pinnacle 
of  absurdity  that  has  never  been  reached  in  a  judicial 
proceeding  before. 

I  understood  the  question  to  be  propounded  by  one 
of  the  judges  whether,  the  Senate  refusing  to  admit  Col 
onel  Robertson  to  his  seat,  he  might  not  have  applied 
for  a  writ  of  mandate.  Manifestly  not.  Certainly  that 
question  will  not  bear  consideration.  Mandate ! 

Justice  Mitchell — Pardon  me ;  that  was  not  the  question 
I  put  at  all.  The  question  I  put  was :  Suppose  that  Col 
onel  Robertson,  pei*isting  in  his  right  to  preside,  had 
been  adjudged  in  contempt  by  the  Senate. 

Senator  Harrison — I  was  not  alluding  to  the  question 
propounded  by  your  Honor  this  afternoon,  but  to  one 
propounded  this  morning  or  yesterday. 

Justice  Mitchell — I  never  had  such  a  question  as  that 
in  my  mind,  if  you  refer  to  me. 

Justice  Zollars — I  do  not  recollect  of  asking  such  a 
question. 

Senator  Harrison — If  not,  if  the  very  suggestion  of  the 
proposition  meets  with  a  disclaimer  on  all  hands,  then 
does  it  not  show  a  limitation  of  power  in  this  court  to 
deal  with  the  subject  ?  You  can  keep  a  man  from  pre 
siding  over  the  Senate.  You  can,  by  injunction,  restrain 
him  from  doing  it,  but  you  cannot  compel  the  Senate  by 


I  64  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

mandate  to  permit  him  to  do  it.    One  would  think  these 
remedies  ought  to  be  mutual. 

WAS   THERE    AN    FLECTION? 

But,  if  your  Honors  please,  if  we  can  come  so  far,  if 
these  threshold  questions  may  be  safely  passed,  and  we 
can  ever  reach  the  question  whether  there  was  an  election 
for  Lieutenant-Governor,  on  the  2d  day  of  November  last, 
then  I  have  upon  that  subject  a  few  words  to  submit. 

And  let  me  say  first,  that  my  client  here  does  not  come 
as  an  impostor;  he  does  not  come  with  the  rude  and  vul 
gar  airs  of  a  usurper,  for  rudeness  and  vulgarity  are  the 
natural  apparel  of  the  usurper.  He  comes,  after  having 
submitted  to  the  intelligent  voters  of  Indiana  his  char 
acter  and  fitness  for  this  high  office.  Not  one  member  of 
this  court,  I  may  assume;  not  one  of  the  learned  counsel 
for  the  relator ;  not  one  probably  of  this  little  company 
that  hear  me  to-day  but  expressed  his  choice  for  or 
against  him.  I  do  not  say,  at  all,  that  this  must  be  con 
clusive  upon  the  body  endowed,  under  the  Constitution, 
with  the  power  to  try  his  right  to  the  office;  but  I  do  say, 
may  it  please  your  Honors,  that,  whatever  that  tribunal 
is,  whether  the  Legislature  or  this  court,  my  client  comes 
before  it  in  an  attitude  to  challenge  their  respect,  and 
backed  by  a  popular  sentiment  that  demands  that  the 
questions  which  are  at  issue  shall  have  the  most  careful 
and  deliberate  consideration  of  the  tribunal  trying  them. 
In  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people,  constitutions  must  not  be  strained  to  deprive 
them  of  the  right  to  choose  their  own  officers.  If  your 
Honors  please,  this  is  a  popular  government.  Right 
jealous  and  careful  were  the  framers  of  our  Constitution 
to  secure  to  the  people  the  right  to  select  those  who  were 
to  administer  all  three  of  the  departments  of  our  State 
government.  Previously,  in  many  places,  indeed  now, 
the  judiciary  of  the  State  had  been  appointive ;  but  under 
the  present  Constitution  the  people  took  to  themselves 
the  right  to  choose  the  members  of  this  high  tribunal 
and  every  other  judicial  officer  in  the  State  of  Indiana. 


THE   LAWYER.  165 

They  especially  declared  in  the  Constitution  that  the 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  should  be  elected  by 
the  people.  If  there  is  a  vacancy  in  the  office,  as  is  ad 
mitted,  and  we  are  brought  to  a  study  of  the  Constitution 
as  to  whether  the  people,  by  the  ordinary  methods 
pointed  out  by  law,  may  fill  it  according  to  their  choice, 
I  say  again,  we  should  come  to  the  consideration  of  that 
question  with  a  disposition  to  effectuate,  if  we  can,  the 
popular  will.  Not  that  we  can  do  so  at  the  expense  of 
plain  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  but  with  a  disposition 
to  do  so,  if  a  liberal  and  kindly  construction  can  give  to 
the  people  this  right  to  choose  their  own  Lieutenant- 
Governor.  I  press  this  upon  the  court :  If  the  question 
is  doubtful,  the  doubt  should  be  solved  on  the  side  of 
popular  government.  I  am  not  indulging  in  propositions 
that  can  be  labelled  Republican  or  Democratic ;  they  are 
principles  that  all  parties  and  all  statesmen  at  least  affect 
to  reverence. 

Now,  coming  to  the  consideration  of  our  Constitution 
in  such  a  spirit,  and  remembering  that  the  chief  executive 
of  this  State,  having  called  upon  its  law  officer,  received 
from  him  an  opinion  that  there  was  a  vacancy  that  should 
be  filled ;  remembering  that  in  every  county  of  this  State 
the  administrative  officer,  the  sheriff,  issued  his  notice  to 
the  electors  to  choose  a  Lieutenant-Governor ;  remem 
bering  that  through  all  that  campaign  no  man  interposed 
by  injunction  against  a  sheriff  from  publishing  such  a 
notice  or  sought  to  raise  the  question  until  the  issue  had 
been  fought  out  at  the  polls ;  remembering  that  all  the 
forms  of  law  have  been  observed ;  remembering  that  a 
half  million  of  free  people  of  all  political  parties  in  this 
State  have  expressed  their  choice  in  an  orderly  and  honest 
way  at  the  polls  that  is  unchallenged  as  a  true  expression 
of  the  popular  will ;  remembering  all  that,  let  us  come  to 
a  consideration  of  the  question  whether  there  is  anything 
in  our  Constitution  that  prohibited  the  people  from 
choosing  a  Lieutenant-Governor  on  the  2d  day  of  last 
November. 

If  your  Honors  please,  I  have  here  before  me  the 
second  volume  of  the  constitutional  debates.  Your 


1 66  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Honors  are  familiar  with  the  manner  in  which  this  book 
was  compiled,  and  of  course  know  that  the  Constitution, 
as  it  was  adopted  by  sections,  as  the  convention  acted 
upon  it,  was  recast  in  form  and  the  sections  put  together 
in  articles,  so  that  the  number  as  mentioned  here  cannot 
always  be  accurately  identified  in  the  present  compilation. 
On  page  1316  I  find  it  said: 

"  The  section  prescribing  the  manner  of  electing  a 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  was  read  a  second 
time." 

"  Mr.  Kelso  [known  to  many  of  you]  moved  to  strike 
out  the  latter  part  of  the  section  and  insert  a  provision*  to 
the  effect  that,  if  it  should  become  necessary  to  fill  a 
vacancy  in  the  office  of  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Governor 
at  any  time,  when  no  general  election  was  held,  it  might 
be  done." 

Note  the  proposition.  Not  to  wait  for  any  general 
election,  but  to  have  a  special  election  to  fill  those  offices 
if  they  should  become  vacant. 

"  Mr.  Morrison,  of  Marion  [known  to  many  of  us  here, 
now  dead],  said  he  could  see  no  reason  for  a  change  in 
this  respect ;  THE  OFFICES  WOULD  ALL  BE  FILLED  AT  THE 
NEXT  GENERAL  ELECTION.  Besides  such  a  provision 
would  be  inconsistent  with  another  part  of  the  same 
article." 

Evidently  referring  to  that  section  which  provides  that 
the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  be  elected 
at  the  same  time  with  the  members  of  the  Legislature. 
So  it  seems,  if  your  Honors  please,  in  the  debates  in  the 
convention  that  framed  the  Constitution,  this  question 
whether  the  people  should  have  an  election  or  not  to  fill 
a  vacancy,  was  raised,  and  Mr.  Morrison,  who,  I  think, 
was  upon  the  committee  that  reported  it,  delivered  his 
opinion,  "  The  offices  would  all  be  filled  at  the  next  gen 
eral  election."  And  now,  if  your  Honors  please,  a  Sen 
ator,  elected  by  two  counties,  confronts  the  five  hundred 
thousand  voters  with  the  proposition  that  the  people  of 
the  two  counties  he  represents  have  a  right  to  select  a 
man  to  discharge  the  duties  of  this  high  office  in  disre 
gard  of  the  will  of  the  mass  of  the  people  of  Indiana. 


THE    LAWYER.  167 

And  there  is  to  be  no  election,  he  says.  And  why  not  ? 
If  your  Honors  please,  there  is  just  one  suggestion,  and 
only  one,  found  in  the  Constitution  or  statute  against  it, 
and  that  is  the  declaration  that  the  term  of  office  of  the 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  begin  on  a  par 
ticular  day.  That,  and  nothing  else,  raises  a  doubt  on 
this  question.  We  are  met  here  with  the  remarkable 
theory  that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution,  instead  of 
contemplating  an  election  to  fill  these  vacancies  at  the 
next  general  election,  as  Mr.  Morrison  says,  absolutely 
contemplated  a  condition  of  things  in  which,  if  the  Gov 
ernor  and  Lieutenant-Governor-elect  died  before  their 
inauguration,  or  immediately  afterwards,  the  power  of 
the  people  to  designate  their  successors  was  to  be  in  re 
straint  for  four  full  years !  And  that  is  where  we  are 
left !  This  is  the  argument  that  comes  from  my  Demo 
cratic  friend !  That  this  Constitution  was  meant  to  say 
that  for  four  full  years  a  man,  the  choice  of  a  single 
county,  elected  not  to  exercise  the  duties  of  Governor  or 
Lieutenant-Governor,  but  those  of  a  Senator  alone,  must 
be  the  chief  executive  of  the  State  of  Indiana !  Can  we, 
being  part  of  a  government  so  thoroughly  popular  as  the 
government  of  our  State  is,  come  to  such  a  conclusion 
unless  a  compulsion  of  steel  bands  and  rivets  is  upon  our 
opinion  ?  Shall  we  adopt  such  a  conclusion  ?  Are  we 
thus  hedged  in  ?  No.  If  we  simply  construe  that  sec 
tion  to  apply  to  the  full  and  regular  terms  of  the  offices 
of  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor ;  if  we  simply  say 
that  the  people  meant  that  there  should  be  these  periods 
marked  and  defined  in  the  regular  terms,  and  that  they 
were  not  intended  to  be  restrictive  of  the  power  of  the 
people  to  fill  a  vacancy  by  election,  then  all  is  clear. 
Our  government  goes  on  in  an  orderly  way.  Its  popular 
control  and  character  are  recognized.  The  men  admin 
ister  these  offices  whom  the  people  choose.  Put  that 
construction  upon  it,  and  all  doubt  vanishes  away. 

Justice  Zollars — Would  your  idea  be  that  if  the  Gov 
ernor  should  die  there  should  be  an  election  ? 

Senator  Harrison — I  have  no  doubt  of  the  power  to 
have  such  election,  though  I  think  the  argument  is 
stronger  |n  case  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor. 


1 68  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Justice  Zollars — Then  our  practice  has  been  wrong. 

Senator  Harrison — I  know  the  practice  has  been  that 
the  Lieutenant-Governor  succeeds  to  the  office ;  that  he 
is  continued  in  the  succession ;  that  the  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor  discharges  those  duties.  But  that  is  a  very  dif 
ferent  question  from  this,  because,  I  say  to  your  Honors, 
and  say  it  advisedly,  there  is  no  one  designated  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  Lieutenant-Governor  in  case  of  a  vacancy 
in  that  office,  and  we  meet  under  this  construction  of  the 
Constitution,  this  anomaly :  That  we  have  this  one  office 
that  may  become  vacant  by  death  or  resignation,  the 
duties  of  which  are  devolved  upon  no  one;  neither  is. 
there  a  provision  for  electing  his  successor.  I  know — 

Justice  Mitchell — Is  it  not  the  fact  that  in  the  absence 
of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  the  duties  are  devolved  upon 
the  President  of  the  Senate  ? 

Senator  Harrison — I  would  be  very  glad  if  your 
Honor  would  show  me  where  that  is  said.  Admitting 
that  the  Senate  may  elect  a  president  pro  tempore  who 
presides  over  the  Senate,  and  of  course  discharges,  so  far 
as  he  presides,  the  same  duty  that  the  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor  would  if  he  presided,  but  where  is  the  provision 
in  the  Constitution  or  the  law  that  invests  .him  with  any 
other  function  of  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  ? 

Justice  Mitchell — I  might  answer  that  there  is  no'  pro 
vision  in  the  Constitution  or  law  which  invests  the  Lieu 
tenant-Governor  with  any  other  function.  That  is  the 
whole  statement  of  the  function  of  the  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor. 

Senator  Harrison — Does  not  the  Constitution  especially 
provide  or  permit  that  other  duties  may  be  devolved  upon 
him  by  law  ? 

Justice  Mitchell — -I  am  not  aware  that  it  does. 

Senator  Harrison — Then  how  is  it  that  he  is  made  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Equalization  ? 

Justice  Mitchell — They  might  have  made  the  sheriff 
of  Marion  county  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Equaliza 
tion  just  as  well  as  the  Lieutenant-Governor.  ."J 

Senator  Harrison — Then  duties  defined  by  law  may  be 
added  to  the  office,  and  yet  there  is  no  provision  for  a 


THE   LAWYER.  169 

successor  if  the  Lieutenant-Governor  dies,  nor  are  his 
duties  assigned  to  any  one  else  ? 

Justice  Mitchell — That  depends  on  whether  I  have 
rightly  interpreted  that  section,  namely:  That  all  the 
constitutional  duty  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  all  the 
constitutional  duty  that  he  has  to  perform  is  to  preside 
over  the  Senate  ;  and  when  the  Constitution  provides  that 
in  the  event  of  the  death  or  absence  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  the  president  pro  tempore  shall  do  that,  then  all 
his  constitutional  duties  are  filled  and  provided  for. 

Senator  Harrison — "  Whenever  the  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor  shall  act  as  Governor,  or  shall  be  unable  to  attend 
as  President  of  the  Senate,  the  Senate  shall  elect  one  of 
its  own  members  as  president  for  the  occasion."  That  is 
what  is  said ;  but  if  your  Honors  please,  there  are  other 
duties  devolved  by  law  rightly,  not  contrary  to  the  Con 
stitution,  but  rightly  upon  the  Lieutenant-Governor. 

Justice  Mitchell — I  agree  with  that.  I  do  not  want  to 
interrupt  you ;  but  I  have  thought  very  seriously  over 
the  proposition  you  are  discussing,  and.  I  only  wish  to 
give  you  the  idea  so  as  to  draw  out  yours  in  return.  The 
only  constitutional  duty  which  I  have  been  able  to  find 
devolved  upon  the  Lieutenant-Governor  was  that  of  pre 
siding  over  the  Senate,  and  of  being  in  expectancy  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  Governor  in  case  of  the  death  or 
resignation  of  the  Governor.  Now,  when  the  Constitu 
tion  also  provides  that  in  the  absence  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  those  same  duties  shall  be  devolved  upon 
another,  then  the  question  comes  to  my  mind,  don't  that 
fill  the  office,  and  can  it  be  said  that  there  is  a  vacancy 
in  the  office  ? 

Senator  Harrison — If  your  Honors  please,  it  seems  to 
me  that  is  very  far  short  of  being  conclusive  logic — with 
all  due  respect. 

Judge  Mitchell — I  want  to  hear  your  logic. 

Senator  Harrison — If  it  was  provided  that  in  case  of 
the  death  or  inability  to  attend  of  the  clerk  of  the  court, 
that  the  duties  of  the  clerk  of  the  court  should  there 
upon  devolve  upon  the  auditor  "  for  the  occasion,"  I 
think  that  would  hardly  be  conclusive  that  we  were  not 
to  elect  a  clerk  at  the  first  chance. 


17°  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

But  suppose  it  to  be  true,  then,  if  your  Honors  please, 
that  upon  the  death  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  the 
duties  are  devolved  on  some  one  else — 

Justice  Zollars— Judge  Mitchell's  position  is,  all  the 
Constitutional  duties. 

Senator  Harrison — I  do  not  care  whether  it  is  all  his 
duties,  as  defined  by  the  Constitution,  or  all  the  duties, 
which,  under  the  Constitution,  the  Legislature  has  rigntly 
devolved  upon  him.  Keeping  in  mind  the  qualifying 
words  of  the  Constitution — "  for  the  occasion  " — is  it  not 
a  very  forced  conclusion  that  his  successor  is  to  dis 
charge  those  duties  for  four  years,  and  that  the  vacancy 
in  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  may  not  be  filled  ? 
So  far  from  an  idea  of  permanence,  does  not  the  very 
grant  of  authority  to  elect  this  man  "  for  the  occasion  " 
imply  a  limited  and  temporary  discharge  of  the  duties  ? 
If  the  intention  were  otherwise,  would  not  the  Constitu 
tion  have  said  that  the  successor  should  discharge  the 
duties  until  the  expiration  of  the  term,  or  until  the 
vacancy  is  filled,  instead  of  using  such  transitory,  tem 
porary  words  of  sufferance  ? 

Mr.  Brown — May  I  ask  you  on  that — Ought  not  the 
courts  to  follow  the  construction  put  upon  the  words 
'*  for  the  occasion "  that  the  Legislature  had  put  upon 
those  words  ? 

Senator  Harrison — What  is  that  construction  ?  That 
put  on  them  by  Mr.  Smith  ? 

Mr.  Brown — No,  sir;  I  mean  the  construction  that 
has  been  universally  put  upon  those  words  by  the  Legis 
lature. 

Senator  Harrison — What  is  that  ? 

Mr.  Brown — That  has  been  this,  as  I  remember  it,  that 
the  Senate  would  elect  a  President,  and  in  all  cases  of  ab 
sence  for  any  cause  thereafter  of  the  Lieutenant-Gover- 
ernor,  the  person  so  elected  should  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  office  in  so  far  as  presiding  over  the  Senate  is 
concerned. 

Senator  Harrison — That  may  be ;  but  still  it  simply 
enlarges  the  "  occasion  "  from  that  of  a  day  to  a  week ; 
it  still  does  not  add  any  idea  of  permanence ;  none  what- 


THE    LAWYER.  I  71 

ever ;  and,  if  your  Honors  please,  the  idea  of  permanence 
is  expressly  excluded  by  the  fact  that  the  Senate  of  In 
diana  is  not  a  continuing  body.  Suppose,  instead  of 
being  a  hold-over  Senator,  Mr.  Green  Smith's  term  had 
expired  with  the  last  Legislature.  Where  is  your  Presi 
dent  pro  tempore  ?  The  •office  necessarily  ends  with  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature.  It  was  an  assumption, 
in  my  mind  an  assumption  that  I  cannot  fitly  characterize 
here,  that  the  fact  that  he  had  been  elected  at  a  previous 
General  Assembly  made  him  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
present  Senate,  in  which  there  were  only  twenty-four  men 
who  voted  for  him.  It  is  only  because  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  is  held  to  be  a  continuing  body  by  reason 
of  an  expressed  rule  that  the  President /n?  tempore  holds 
continuously ;  and,  unlike  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
does  not  terminate  his  official  existence  with  the  Con 
gress.  I  say  that  qualification  does  not  inhere  in  the 
Senate  of  Indiana;  it  is  not  a  continuing  body.  And 
when  it  elects  a  President,  a  President  pro  tempore,  for 
the  occasion,  his  power  cannot  run  into  the  organiza 
tion  of  a  new  Legislature. 

Mr.  Brown — Have  you  forgotten,  General,  that  the 
bill  avers  that  General  Manson  resigned  some  time  in 
August  last,  that  Smith  was  elected  by  the  present 
Senate  of  Indiana  on  the  6th  day  of  January,  and  that 
all  these  averred  causes  of  information  are  subsequent  to 
that  date  ? 

Senator  Harrison — I  have  not  forgotten,  if  your 
Honors  please,  those  most  extraordinary  double-action 
allegations  in  this  petition.  That  this  Senate  recognized 
Mr.  Smith  as  being  already  President  pro  tempore,  and  by 
the  same  resolution  elected  him  to  be  such.  [Laughter.] 
A  juggle,  if  your  Honors  please,  that  may  have  an  ap 
propriate  place  where  politicians  assemble,  but  has  no 
standing  in  this  court.  I  am  not  unaware,  too,  of  the 
fact  that  this  bill  and  answer  show  that  when  Mr.  Smith 
was  previously  elected  President  pro  tempore  of  the 
Senate,  Mahlon  D.  Manson,  then  Lieutenant-Governor, 
was  in  the  chair,  and  put  the  question  on  his  election. 
Utterly  void !— void  under  the  Constitution,  which  gives 


172  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  Senate  the  right  only  to  elect  when  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  is  absent.  Why,  so  well  recognized  is  the  rule 
that  when  President  Garfield  and  Vice-President  Arthur 
came  in,  at  the  executive  session  first  held,  the  Senate 
elected  no  President  pro  tf$nporey  and  could  not,  because 
the  Vice-President  occupied  the  chair.  And  when  that 
fatal  bullet  of  the  assassin  killed  the  President,  Congress 
had  to  be  reconvened,  that  the  Senate  might  choose  one 
in  order  to  provide  for  the  succession.  And  I  remember, 
too,  that  when  our  own  distinguished  citizen,  Thomas  A. 
Hendricks,  whose  untimely  taking  off  we  all  mourn,  be 
came  Vice-President,  he,  too,  occupied  his  place  in  the 
Vice-President's  chair,  and  did  not  give  the  Senate  op 
portunity  to  select  a  President  pro  tempore,  and  that 
when  he  died  there  was  no  successor  if  President  Cleve 
land  had  followed  his  untimely  footsteps.  And  yet  we 
have  a  case  here,  and  the  gentleman  calls  my  attention 
to  it,  where  it  is  shown  by  the  papers  that  this  man, 
claiming  to  hold  over  and  to  have  succeeded  when  Gen 
eral  Manson  became  collector  of  internal  revenue,  to  the 
office  of  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  elected  with  the  Lieu-, 
tenant-Governor  in  the  chair. 

It  is  "  for  an  occasion,"  may  it  please  your  Honors. 
Words  of  limitation,  characterizing  an  office  as  tem 
porary,  fleeting  and  inviting  a  successor,  could  not  have 
been  more  aptly  chosen.  I  will  not  detain  your  Honors 
longer  with  the  discussion  of  this  question.  The  limit 
of  time  which,  I  assume,  was  assigned  me  has  been  ex 
hausted. 

Justice  Mitchell — We  have  interrupted  you  some,  and 
I  take  it  the  court  will  be  glad  to  have  you  occupy  the 
time  needed  to  conclude  your  argument. 

Senator  Harrison — The  interruptions  have  only  orna 
mented  my  argument. 

Mr.  Brown — So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  there  is  no 
limit  of  time. 

Justice  Mitchell — Our  interruptions  may  have  broken 
the  chain  of  your  argument  and  placed  you  at  some  dis 
advantage,  and  we  would  be  glad  to  have  you  finish. 

Senator  Harrison — If  I  have  been  put  to  any  disad- 


THE    LAWYER.  173 

vantage  by  the  interruptions,  it  was  on  account  of  the 
weakness  of  the  advocate,  and  not  of  the  cause  for  which 
I  speak. 

Your  Honors,  here  are  two  threshold  questions  of 
jurisdiction.  To  the  consideration  thereof  I  invoke  the 
careful,  thoughtful  and  conscientious  consideration  of 
the  court.  I  am  sure  I  need  not,  by  any  word  of  mine, 
attempt  to  stimulate  your  courage  to  deal  with  any  ques 
tion  that  can  be  submitted.  It  would  be  a  disrespectful 
suggestion.  Because  the  court  that,  walking  uprightly 
in  the  strength  and  dignity  of  the  high  orifice  it  exercises, 
and  defying  clamor,  refuses  to  decide  questions  of  which 
it  has  not  jurisdiction,  will  outlive  clamor,  and  will  estab 
lish  itself  in  the  confidence  of  the  whole  people,  a  confi 
dence  which  gives  its  judgments  strength  and  executes 
its  decrees  without  the  aid  of  force. 

As  some  periods  in  the  text  of  this  chapter 
may  appear  extravagant,  it  may  be  well  to  fortify 
them ;  and,  for  that  purpose,  I  am  glad  to  avail 
myself  of  a  letter  received  from  W.  P.  Fishback, 
Esq.,  under  date  of  July  13,  1888. 

Mr.  Fishback  was  a  member,  as  has  been 
stated,  of  the  firm  of  Porter,  Harrison  &  Fish- 
back,  and  says : 

I  saw  General  Harrison  first  in  1850  at  Miami  Univer 
sity.  My  room  at  Mr.  High's  boarding-house  was  next 
to  David  Swing's,  and  Ben  (Harrison)  came  regularly  on 
his  way  to  Prof.  Elliott's  room  to  get  some  coaching  in 
Pindar  from  Swing,  who  was  his  classmate.  Ben  was  at 
the  head  in  Latin  and  mathematics ;  so  was  Milt.  Saylor 
of  the  same  class.  But  they  both,  and  I  might  say,  the 
whole  class,  looked  upon  Swing  as  the  best  in  Greek. 

In  the  Union  Literary  Society  Ben  was  a  star.  I  re 
member  his  faculty  in  extemporaneous  speech  amazed 
me,  a  faculty  which  he  has  improved  wonderfully.  In 
all  my  knowledge  of  him  I  never  knew  him  to  trip  in  a 


174  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

sentence.  He  seemed  to  see  about  two  well-rounded 

sentences  ahead  of  him  all  the  time During  the 

time  I  was  his  partner  he  worked  like  a  slave.  He  was 
Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  prepared  the  "  syl 
labuses  "  or  "  syllabii,"  as  the  case  may  be,  at  his  home 
at  nights.  He  was  working  to  pay  for  his  house,  and 
came  near  wrecking  his  health  by  overwork Be 
fore  he  came  home  from  the  field  Porter  and  I,  who  were 
partners,  wanted  him  to  become  second  man  in  the  firm 
of  P.,  H.  &  F. — second  in  place,  but  always  facile  prin- 
ceps  in  ability  and  industry.  I  have  never  been  a  lag 
gard  myself,  neither  has  Porter ;  but  I  declare  that  of  all 
the  men  I  have  known  in  professional  life,  Ben  Harrison 
is  the  most  diligent,  painstaking  and  thorough 

It  was  the  rule  in  our  firm,  when  we  were  for  the  de 
fense,  to  make  Ben  close  for  our  side.  If  he  made  the 
first  speech  we  were  like  Riley's  old  father  in  the  poem, 
"  Nothin'  to  say."  That  is  literally  true.  More  than 
once,  when  some  other  pressing  duty  was  calling  him,  he 
would  be  allowed  to  make  the  first  speech ;  and  it  was 
amusing  to  see  Porter,  as  Ben  proceeded.  He  would 
strike  out  from  his  notes  one  thing  after  another  until 
Ben  had  finished.  Then,  when  he  was  done,  we  would 
put  our  heads  together  and  wisely  conclude  to  let  the 
case  go  with  one  speech  for  our  side.  He  was  a  merci 
less  reaper ;  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  was  left  for  the 
most  careful  gleaner.  Porter  will  bear  me  out  in  this. 
....  As  an  examiner  of  witnesses  I  never  saw  his 
(Harrison's)  equal.  He  knew  when  to  quit.  He  gener 
ally  knew  a  tartar  without  catching  it.  Once  an  irasci 
ble  elderly  lady  was  on  the  witness  stand.  She  testified 
with  great  spirit  and  extravagance ;  she  was  one  of  the 
"  willingest "  you  ever  saw.  When  passed  to  Ben  for 
cross-examination  there  was  a  look  of  triumph  in  her 
eye.  She  squared  herself  for  a  bout,  when  Ben  said : 

"  You  may  stand  aside,  madam." 

"  Oh,  I  have  heard  of  you  ;  you  can  cross-question  me 
as  much  as  you  please ;  I  am  not  afraid  of  you,"  said 
she. 

"  I  have  no  questions  to  ask  you,  madam,"  was  the 


THE    LAWYER.  175 

Bland  reply,  and  she  was  finished.  She  had  most  effect 
ually  destroyed  whatever  of  weight  there  might  have 
been  in  her  evidence,  and  Ben  allowed  her  to  retire. 
....  Ben's  fidelity — absolute  and  unqualified  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  in  a  case — was 
another  marked  feature  of  his  style  of  work.  If  we  had 
consented  to  take  a  case,  no  matter  how  small,  it  was 
prepared  for  trial  by  him  with  as  much  care  as  if  the 
controversy  was  of  the  greatest  importance.  His  notes 
for  cross-examination  were  always  complete ;  and  I  never 
saw  a  dishonest  witness  get  out  of  his  hands  without 
exposure.  Men  of  his  rare  ability  are  sometimes  led  to 
abuse  their  power,  but  he  never  did  this  to  my  knowl 
edge.  The  jury  could  always  see  that  he  was  fair  with 
the  witness  and  gave  him  full  opportunity  for  explana 
tion  and  escape  if  there  was  any  chance One  of 

his  greatest  triumphs  in  cross-examination  was  in  the 
celebrated  Clem  murder  case.  Three  persons  were  in 
dicted  for  the  murder — Mrs.  Clem,  William  Abrams,  and 
Syke  Hartman  (Mrs.  Clem's  brother).  Each  of  them 
attempted  to  prove  an  alibi.  The  murder  was  committed 
about  four  miles  from  Indianapolis  on  a  Saturday  after 
noon  at  quarter  past  four  o'clock  in  September,  1868. 
Two  reputable  ladies  swore  that  at  four  o'clock  on  the 
day  of  the  murder  they  met  and  conversed  with  Mrs. 
Clem  in  the  New  York  store  in  the  city  of  Indianapolis. 
If  this  were  true  the  whole  theory  of  the  prosecution  was 
wrong.  The  circumstances  tended  to  show  that  Mrs. 
Clem  murdered  Mr.  Young  with  her  own  hand,  and  the 
case  rested  wholly  on  circumstantial  evidence.  The  alibi 
witnesses  were  apparently  honest.  That  they  had  met 
and  conversed  with  Mrs.  Clem  at  the  place,  and  at  the 
time  and  day  they  named,  was  beyond  question.  It  was 
equally  certain  that  it  was  on  Saturday ;  and  that  it  was 
the  identical  Saturday  when  the  murder  was  committed 
they  were  sure.  That  they  were  mistaken  we  were  sure, 
but  how  to  show  it  was  the  question.  Ben  went  at  it  on 
the  theory  that  he  could,  by  cross-examination,  show 
that  it  was  some  other  Saturday.  The  force  of  an  alibi 
depends  upon  its  covering  the  exact  time  the  other  facts, 


176  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

with  all  their  circumstances,  may  have  occurred ;  but  the 
time  is  the  thing.  Ben  asked  them  to  name  something 
else  that  happened  the  day  they  met  Mrs.  Clem.  A  letter 
had  been  written  to  a  friend  in  Pennsylvania,  for  one 
thing.  That  did  not  help  the  matter.  It  was  necessary 
to  have  them  state  something  which  could  be  traced  and 
shown  to  have  occurred  at  another  time.  Patiently,  per 
sistently  and  politely  they  were  asked  again  and  again 
by  way  of  suggestion  if  this  or  that  had  happened.  At 
the  end  of  a  long  siege  the  mother's  eye  lit  up,  and  she 
said  :  "  Oh,  yes ;  I  remember  now.  It  was  the  day  the 
constable  from  'Squire  Fisher's  came  to  serve  a  subpoena 
on  us."  In  ten  minutes  the  docket  of  Esquire  Fisher 
was  in  the  court  room,  the  subpoena  and  return  were 
there,  and  it  appeared  that  it  was  Saturday,  the  week  after 
the  murder,  when  they  saw  Mrs.  Clem  in  the  store.  She 
was  still  at  large  at  that  time ;  and  we  proved  by  other 
witnesses  that  she  was  down  town  shopping  that  day. 
The  alibis  for  the  other  defendants  were  very  clumsy 
and  were  more  easily  disproved I  have  been  sus 
pected  of  having  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  Harrison's 
ability;  but  I  declare  that,  in  my  experience  of  thirty- 
two  years,  I  have  never  seen  a  man  in  whose  hands  I 
would  be  more  willing  to  place  my  imperilled  life  or 
fortune  than  in  his.  I  have  heard  some  men  say  that  he 
is  overrated ;  but  they  were  generally  those  who  had 
never  grappled  with  him  in  a  hard  fight.  No  lawyer 
who  ever  met  him  before  court  or  jury  will  talk  that 
way. 

On  this  testimony  the  chapter  given  to  General 
Harrison's  professional  career  may  be  rested. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    SOLDIER. 

THE  fruits  of  the  great  Union  victory  at  Pitts- 
burg  Landing,  April  7,  1862,  were  first,  the  re 
covery  of  the  Mississippi  river  to  its  mouth ; 
second,  the  separation  of  the  Trans-Mississippi 
States  of  the  Confederacy,  Arkansas,  Louisiana 
and  Texas,  from  the  States  eastward  of  the  river. 
These  fruits  were  lost  by  the  inaction  that  fol 
lowed  the  victory,  and  by  dividing  the  magnifi 
cent  army  gathered  at  and  around  Corinth  into 
detachments,  and  scattering  them  aimlessly  up 
and  down  the  country. 

The  disappointment  to  the  loyal  people  of  the 
West  consequent  upon  the  failure  to  realize 
something  commensurate  with  the  success  was  in 
tensely  bitter.  At  length  General  Buell  was  or 
dered  to  march  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  to  Chat 
tanooga,  and  hold  it  for  some  succeeding  opera 
tion  all  unknown  except  to  General  Halleck,  chief 
commander  of  the  army,  and  there  have  been 
great  suspicions  that  on  that  ulterior  point  even 
he  was  not  fully  made  up  in  mind. 

There  can  be  little  question  that  General  Buell 
could  have  established  himself  in  Chattanooga  if 

12  %  (177) 


178  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

he  had  been  allowed  to  proceed  as  he  wished,  by 
a  direct  march  along  a  route  north  of  the  Ten 
nessee  river,  drawing  supplies  from  Nashville. 
Instead  of  that  he  was  peremptorily  required  to 
follow  the  line  of  the  Memphis  &  Charleston 
Railroad  from  Corinth  to  Decatur,  repairing  it  as 
he  went.  It  resulted  that  General  Bragg  was 
able  to  concentrate  a  new  army  at  Chattanooga 
before  Buell  could  reach  it,  whereupon  the  latter 
was  speedily  put  upon  the  defensive.  Then  be 
gan  the  celebrated  race  on  parallel  lines  between 
the  generals,  in  the  course  of  which  Buell  was 
severely  taxed  to  save  Nashville  first  and  then 
Louisville.  The  news  spread  through  Ohio  and 
Indiana  that  the  Confederates  were  in  Kentucky 
in  force,  with  the  advantage  of  the  interior  line 
for  their  operations.  The  consternation  was  pro 
digious. 

President  Lincoln  had  recently  issued  another 
proclamation  calling  for  troops.  So  great  was  the 
public  depression,  however,  that  Governor  Mor 
ton  found  difficulty  in  filling  the  quota  due  from 
Indiana ;  but,  keenly  alive  to  the  dangers  of  the 
situation,  he  made  appeals  everywhere  and  to 
everybody  to  assist  in  the  work.  No  one  was  so 
dull  of  military  perception  as  not  to  see  that  In 
diana  and  Ohio  were  threatened  by  Bragg.  A 
battle  lost  in  Kentucky  would  make  it  easy  for 
that  chief  to  carry  his  army  across  the  Ohio  at 
his  pleasure. 


THE    SOLDIER.  I  79 

One  day,  when  the  gloom  of  the  public  was 
deepest,  Harrison,  in  company  with  a  friend,  called 
upon  Governor  Morton.  The  visitors  found  him 
pacing  the  floor  of  the  reception  room  of  the 
executive  office  in  a  frame  of  mind  fairly  reflec 
tive  of  the  general  feeling.  When  the  business 
which  had  brought  them  was  concluded  the  Gov 
ernor  took  them  into  his  inner  room  on  the  first 
floor  on  the  east  side  of  the  old  State  House, 
where  they  stood  with  him  looking  out  of  a  win 
dow.  A  number  of  workmen  were  in  fair  view 
engaged  in  the  erection  of  what  is  now  known  as 
the  Gallup  Building  on  Tennessee  street.  After  a 
brief  silence,  Morton  remarked  that  he  was  quite 
discouraged:  that  the  President's  call  for  more 

o          ' 

troops  had  been  out  for  some  time,  and  met  no 
ready  response  ;  that  the  people  were  slow  in 
waking  up  to  the  exigency  of  the  moment,  and, 
pointing  to  some  men  cutting  stone  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street,  he  said :  "  The  people  are  fol 
lowing  their  own  private  business,  so  that  it  has 
come  to  be  a  serious  question  what  I  shall  do 
next  to  arouse  them."  He  spoke  with  a  great 
deal  of  depression,  and  in  such  a  manner  that 
Harrison  felt  he  was  addressing  himself  person 
ally  to  him.  So  he  replied :  "  Governor,  if  I  can 
be  of  any  service,  I  will  go." 

"  Well,"  the  other  replied  at  once,  "  you  can 
raise  a  regiment  in  this  Congressional  district  right 
away;  but  it  is  asking  too  much  of  you  to  go 


ISO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

into  the  field  with  it ;  you  have  just  been  elected 
Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  But  go  to 
work  and  raise  it,  and  we  will  find  somebody  to 
command  it." 

Harrison  answered  that  that  did  not  suit  him  ; 
if  he  made  any  speeches,  and  asked  men  to  go, 
he  proposed  to  go  along  with  them,  and  stay  as 
long  as  any  of  them  did,  if  he  lived  that  long. 
He  said  emphatically  that  he  did  not  intend  to 
recruit  others  and  stay  at  home  himself. 

The  Governor  remarked :  "  Very  well ;  if  you 
want  to  go,  you  can  command  the  regiment." 

"  I  do  not  know,"  Harrison  replied,  "  as  I  want 
to  command  the  regiment.  I  do  not  know  any 
thing  about  military  tactics.  So,  if  you  can  find 
some  suitable  person  of  experience  in  such  mat 
ters,  I  am  not  at  all  anxious  to  take  the  com 
mand." 

•  The  result  was  that  at  the  end  of  the  interview 
Harrison  went  up  street,  and  on  the  way,  without 
going  home,  stepped  into  a  hat  store  and  bought 
a  military  cap.  Without  the  loss  of  a  moment 
he  then  engaged  a  fifer  and  drummer,  returned  to 
his  office,  threw  a  flag  out  of  the  window,  and 
b£gan  recruiting  for  Company  A. 

The  company  was  speedily  full  and  put  into 
camp  in  the  western  part  of  the  city.  The  new 
soldiers  lay  there,  and  drilled  as  they  had  oppor 
tunity.  Harrison  employed  a  drill-master  in 
Chicago  for  them,  paying  the  hire  himself.  There 


THE   SOLDIER.  l8l 

they  remained  about  a  month.  In  the  meantime 
he  was  given  a  commission  as  Second  Lieutenant. 
Frequently,  when  the  drill  was  over,  he  went  out 
and  made  speeches  in  aid  of  other  gentlemen  en 
gaged  in  raising  companies.  When  the  regiment 
was  complete  Governor  Morton  voluntarily  com 
missioned  him  Colonel. 

The  military  authorities  were  concentrating 
troops  about  that  time  in  Louisville  to  meet  Kirby 
Smith,  who  had  passed  through  Cumberland  Gap 
and  was  making  way  northward  through  New 
London  to  Lexington.  The  rawness  of  Colonel 
Harrison's  companies  can  well  be  imagined ; 
muskets  had  just  been  issued  to  them,  and  they 
did  not  know  how  to  handle  them.  But  the  ex 
citement  was  heightened  by  the  circumstance  that 
General  Bragg  was  hastening  with  the  main  body 
of  his  army  to  Louisville,  having  turned  Nash 
ville,  to  which  General  Buell  had  marched  to  save 
the  immense  stores  of  supplies  there  collected. 
The  rebel  general  was  in  fact  north  of  Nashville, 
so  that  Bowling  Green,  which  was  at  that  time 
fortified,  had  become  a  Union  outpost,  below 
which  everything  had  been  broken  by  the  Con 
federates.  Thither  Harrison's  7oth  Regiment 
Indiana  Volunteers  was  hurried. 

Buell's  army,  in  pursuit  of  Bragg,  marched  past 
Bowling  Green,  and  the  regiment  was  still  there 
when  the  battle  of  Perryville  was  fought,  having 
been  brigaded  temporarily  under  General  Du- 
mont. 


182  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

While  stationed  at  Bowling  Green  Colonel 
Harrison  was  sent  upon  an  expedition  against 
a  body  of  rebels  lodged  at  Russellville,  and,  as  it 
was  his  first  essay  in  what  may  be  called  an  inde 
pendent  operation,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  give 
its  details.  His  command  was  put  upon  a  train 
and  hurried  off.  When  he  had  arrived  within 
about  ten  miles  of  the  town  the  advance  was 
stopped  by  an  untoward  circumstance.  The 
enemy  had  burned  a  bridge  over  a  small  stream 
and  then  retired  to  Russellville  to  have  a  good 
time  with  sympathizing  friends.  Colonel  Harri 
son,  however,  was  not  so  easily  stopped ;  he  had 
resources  within  his  regiment.  Two  or  three  of 
his  captains  had  been  railroad  men,  and,  upon  ex 
amination  of  the  bridge,  they  thought  they  could 
repair  the  damage  so  as  to  cross  the  train  with 
but  little  delay.  Only  a  portion  of  a  span  was 
gone.  A  pier  of  railroad  ties  was  piled  up  in 
the  centre  as  a  support;  then  a  couple  of  large 
trees  were  cut  down,  and  pushed  across  the  break. 
From  a  side  track  near  by  some  rails  were  torn 
up  and  laid  upon  the  timbers.  Thus  a  crossing 
was  effected.  While  slowly  approaching  the 
town  a  negro  man  plowing  corn  saw  the  train, 
and  unhitching  his  horse,  jumped  on  him,  and 
galloped  alongside  the  track.  Colonel  Harrison 
was  at  the  moment  on  the  tender  of  the  locomo 
tive,  the  better  to  observe  whatever  might  happen. 
He  had  men  at  the  brakes  on  the  freight  cars,  and 


OFF   FOR   THE    FRONT. 


THE    SOLDIER.  183 

they  readily  answered  his  signal  to  stop.  The 
negro  told  him  where  the  camp  was  situated,  and 
how  it  could  be  best  approached.  The  Colonel 
then  divided  the  regiment,  sending  three  or  four 
companies  under  Major  Vance  to  go  around  and 
come  in  on  the  other  side  so  as  to  intercept  the 
e"nemy  when  started.  Waiting  time  enough  for 
the  detachment  to  reach  its  position,  he  disem 
barked  his  troops,  and  attacked  with  energy. 
The  surprise  was  so  complete  that  there  was 
not  much  of  a  fight.  Forty  rebels  were  killed 
and  wounded ;  one  Unionist  soldier  was  killed. 
Ten  prisoners  and  all  the  horses  and  arms  of 
the  rebels  were  captured.  With  these  trophies 
the  young  Colonel  returned  to  Bowling  Green. 

The  yoth  Regiment  was  brigaded  with  the  79th 
Ohio  and  the  io2d,  io5th  and  the  i2Qth  Illinois, 
Brigadier-General  W.  T.  Ward,  of  Kentucky, 
commanding ;  and,  what  is  extraordinary,  the  or 
ganization  thus  effected  was  kept  unchanged  to 
the  close  of  the  war.  The  closeness  of  the  ties 
formeb  during  the  long  service  between  officers 
and  men  can  be  best  understood  by  old  soldiers. 
Out  of  the  association  there  also  grew  a  confi 
dence  of  regiment  in  regiment  of  inestimable 
benefit  to  the  cause — a  confidence  which,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  became  in  the  hour  of  trial  a 
kind  of  audacious  faith  each  in  the  other.  By 
virtue  of  seniority  of  commission,  Colonel  Harri 
son  was  given  the  right  of  the  brigade. 


184  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Now  that  the  7<3th  regiment  is  in  the  actual 
field,  it  would  be  very  agreeable  to  give  a  roster 
of  the  officers  and,  for  that  matter,  the  full  roll  of 
the  men.  But  on  account  of  the  many  changes 
that  occurred  in  course  of  its  career,  there  is  not 
space  for  all,  while  a  partial  statement  would  be 
unsatisfactory. 

From  Bowling  Green,  Colonel  Harrison,  with 
his  command,  accompanied  the  brigade  to  Scotts- 
ville,  Kentucky,  and  thence  to  Gallatin,  Tennessee. 
For  two  months  he  was  occupied  guarding  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  road  between  Gallatin  and 
Nashville.  Four  months  then  followed  in  camp. 
This  period  was  about  evenly  divided  between 
hunting  guerillas  and  drilling  his  men.  To  the 
latter  occupation  he  devoted  himself  9edulously ; 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  he  was  as  fresh 
in  arms  as  the  greenest  man  in  the  ranks.  He 
was  systematic  and  painstaking,  however,  and 
buckled  to  the  mysteries  of  the  tactical  "  schools" 
as  he  had  in  college  days  to  geometry.  Indeed, 
his  method  of  instruction  was  precisely  that  of 
his  college  tutors.  Calling  the  officers  to  his 
tent  of  evenings,  he  questioned  them  progres 
sively  and  required  them  to  illustrate  the  ma 
noeuvres  upon  a  board,  chalk  in  hand.  "  Hardee  " 
was  of  course  the  umpire  for  the  settlement  of 
questions.  On  the  parade  ground  there  was 
general  practice  of  the  lessons  studied.  The 
course  pursued  was  wise  and  effective.  The 


THE    SOLDIER.  185 

7oth  became,  while  at  Gallatin,  expert  in  all  the 
military  exercises  required  of  infantry.  While 
their  dress  parade  was  beautiful,  they  were  "up" 
not  less  in  sentinel  and  picket  duty.  Their  "  skir 
mishing  "  is  said  to  have  been  a  remarkable  per 
formance.  All  the  while  he  was  thus  making 
soldiers  of  his  men,  the  Colonel  was  making  an 
accomplished  officer  of  himself.  His  theory  was 
that  every  day  in  camp  should  be  used  in  prep 
aration  for  that  other  day,  always  to  be  kept  in  a 
soldier's  mind — the  day  of  battle. 

From  Gallatin  the  brigade  marched  to  La- 
vergne,  and  thence  to  Murfreesboro.  There  it 
became  part  of  General  Granger's  Reserve 
Corps.  When  General  Rosecrans  set  out  for 
Chattanooga  General  Ward  was  sent  to  Nashville 
to  look  after  the  safety  of  the  trains  carrying  sup 
plies  to  the  front,  a  most  arduous  and  important 
duty,  often  taxing  to  the  uttermost  the  courage 
and  best  resources  of  those  engaged  in  it. 

At  length  the  time  came  when  Ward's  com 
mand  was  called  to  the  front.  On  the  2d  of 
January,  1864,  ^  became  the  ist  Brigade  of  the 
ist  Division  of  the  nth  Army  Corps,  and  Colonel 
Harrison  was  put  in  command  of  it,  his  chief 
taking  the  division. 

The  nth  and  1 2th  Army  Corps  about  this 
time  were  consolidated  into  the  2Oth  Army  Corps, 
whereupon  Ward's  old  brigade  became  the  ist 
Brigade  of  the  3d  Division  of  the  2Oth  Corps, 


1 86  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

and  so  numbered  it  remained  until  the  conclusion 
of  the  war.  General  Ward  returning  to  the 
command  of  the  brigade,  Colonel  Harrison  re 
sumed  that  of  the  regiment. 

It  will  be  perceived  by  the  reader,  whether  he 
have  been  a  soldier  or  not,  that  by  this  time 
Colonel  Harrison  could  not  well  be  any  longer 
called  a  carpet  knight,  but  rather  a  seasoned 
soldier,  wanting  in  but  one  great  remaining  expe 
rience — that  of  battle.  He  himself  would  not 
dignify  the  skirmishes  and  alarms  of  the  camp  by 
night  and  by  day  through  which  he  had  passed 
as  incidents  of  that  character  ;  they  were  merely 
the  trials  by  which  he  was  making  ready  for  gen 
eral  combats.  It  is  always  better  for  the  officer 
that  it  should  be  so ;  for  it  is  as  if,  during  the 
time,  he  were  sitting  face  to  face  with  the  terrors 
of  the  engaged  lines  that,  by  much  study,  they 
should  become  familiar  to  him,  and  he  himself 
hardened  against  the  day  of  their  coming.  This 
is  said,  of  course,  upon  the  assumption  that  battle 
is  terrible  to  every  one  who  goes  down  into  it. 
And  as  that  experience  was  now  about  to  befall 
Colonel  Harrison,  thorough  understanding  re 
quires  a  brief  preliminary  explanation. 

There  had  been  campaigns  and  battles  before 
the  spring  of  1864,  but  they  were  mere  incidents 
of  irregular  operations  along  a  front  extending, 
in  a  general  sense,  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the 
Atlantic.  In  that  season,  however,  a  real  down- 


THE    SOLDIER.  187 

right  commander  went  into  headquarters  at  Wash 
ington,  and  the  old  order  of  things  at  once 
changed.  Looking  v/ith  the  discerning  eye  of 
genius  over  the  whole  field,  he  devised  campaigns 
in  combination.  Thus  he  started  General  Banks 
up  the  Red  river  southwest,  and  Sherman  against 
Joe  Johnston  below  Chattanooga ;  he  himself 
would  hunt  Lee  into  Richmond.  The  idea  under 
lying  the  scheme  was  to  give  occupation  to  the 
Confederates  on  their  right,  left,  and  centre,  and 
keep  them  so  busy  that  there  could  be  no  passing 
of  help  from  one  section  to  another.  So  the 
numerical  superiority  of  the  North  would  be 
really  available,  and  the  advantage  of  the  inner 
line  nullified. 

Sherman,  in  whose  work  we  are  most  directly 
concerned,  had  with  him  three  famous  armies: 
that  of  the  Ohio  (General  Schofield),  that  of  the 
Cumberland  (General  Thomas),  and  that  of  the 
Tennessee  (General  McPherson).  In  popular  es 
timation  Atlanta  was  his  objective ;  but  he  says 
it  was  not  so  ;  that  he  was  really  directed  against 
the  army  commanded  by  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston,  64,000  strong,  then  at  Dalton,  en 
trenched  ;  that  he  "  \vas  required  to  follow  it  up 
closely,  so  that  in  no  event  could  any  part  of  it 
be  detached  to  assist  General  Lee  in  Virginia ; 
General  Grant  undertaking  in  like  manner  to 
keep  Lee  so  busy  that  he  could  not  respond  to 
any  calls  of  help  by  Johnston.  Neither  Atlanta, 


1 88  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

nor  Augusta,  nor  Savannah  was  the  objective, 
but  the  'army  of  Joe  Johnston,'  go  where  it 
might."  (2  Mem.,  p.  25.)  He  says,  moreover,  that 
on  the  5th  of  May  he  rode  out  to  Ringgold  from 
Chattanooga.  Thereupon  his  campaign  began. 

To  Dalton  then,  or  to  get  a  grip  upon  Johnston, 
Sherman  directed  his  columns.  The  attempt 
drew  from  him  his  first  bit  of  strategy. 

Perceiving  that  the  town  was  very  strong  as  a 
position,  he  concluded  the  best  way  to  take  it  was 
to  get  possession  of  the  railroad  which  was  the 
enemy's  line  of  supply.  For  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  send  part  of  his  force  around  to  the 
south.  Accordingly  McPherson  was  chosen  for 
the  enterprise,  and  to  his  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
the  2Oth  Corps,  under  General  Hooker,  was 
joined  as  a  support. 

The  2Oth  Corps  was  constituted  of  three  divi 
sions,  Newton's,  Williams',  and  Butterfield's.  The 
brigades  of  the  latter  were  the  ist,  commanded 
by  Brigadier-General  Ward,  the  2d,  Colonel  John 
Coburn,  the  3d,  Colonel  Wood. 

All  the  yth  and  8th  of  May  McPherson  was  in 
movement.  On  the  9th  he  and  Hooker  issued 
silently  from  Snake  Creek  Gap  on  the  south. 
A  brigade  of  Confederate  cavalry  took  to  their 
saddles,  and  hurried  to  Johnston  with  news  that 
Buzzard's  Roost  and  Dalton  were  turned,  and 
that  there  was  an  army  in  his  rear  about  to  take 
possession  of  the  railroad  and  Resaca. 


THE    SOLDIER.  189 

While  Johnston  was  thinking  what  to  do  in  the 
emergency,  Sherman  passed  his  whole  army 
through  Snake  Creek  Gap.  On  the  I4th  the 
enemies  stood  opposed  to  each  other,  Johnston 
in  Resaca,  Sherman  close  up  to  its  defenses. 
Dalton  had  been  evacuated.  The  bit  of  strategy 
had  worked  to  perfection. 

But  now  to  take  Resaca ! 

The  town  was  enveloped  on  the  north  and 
west,  and  the  fighting,  mostly  at  long  range,  was 
continuous  all  through  the  I4th,  and  it  scarcely 
quieted  in  the  night.  At  daylight  next  morning 
Sherman  drew  his  compresses  closer  about  the 
post,  and  in  the  afternoon,  everybody  being  in 
position,  he  pushed  McPherson  forward  to  a  ridge 
commanding  the  town  and  a  railroad  bridge,  de 
fense  of  which  was  literally  a  living  necessity  to 
the  Confederates.  Accordingly  they  made  re 
peated  attempts  to  dispossess  McPherson ;  and 
the  attacks  and  sallies  thus  brought  about  have 
since  gone  into  history  as 

THE    BATTLE    OF    RESACA. 

On  Saturday,  the  i4th,  a  general  engagement 
had  taken  place,  the  Confederates  being  the  at 
tacking  party.  They  attempted  to  turn  Sherman's 
left,  and  were  themselved  rolled  back  upon  Resaca. 
The  chief  fighting  that  day  was  by  Schofield  and 
Stanley,  who  lost  heavily. 

Sunday  morning  found  the  two  armies  ready, 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

and  they  began  anew.  Though  the  success  had 
been  to  the  Union  army  the  day  before,  the  posi 
tion  of  the  Confederates  was  now  even  more 
advantageous.  The  bulk  of  Johnston's  Corps  was 
concentrated  on  a  short  line,  thoroughly  fortified 
from  right  to  left.  The  Oostenaula,  with  its 
marshy  banks,  covered  his  centre,  which  rested 
on  a  considerable  ridge ;  strong  field-works  pro 
tected  his  left  flank  ;  his  right  abutted  against  the 
river,  and  to  get  to  it  an  attacking  force  must 
needs  cross  a  range  of  hills  crowned  with  redoubts 
and  rifle-pits. 

The  front  presented  by  the  Confederates  was 
not  more  than  two  miles  and  a  half  in  length ; 
opposite  it  Sherman's  army  was  drawn  up.  A  re- 
connoissance  was  had,  and  the  conclusion  reached 
that  the  key  to  the  position  of  the  Confederates 
was  some  eminences  on  the  ri^ht  of  their  line. 

o 

Sherman  determined  to  assault  them.  For  that 
purpose  Hooker's  corps  was  brought  over  to  the 
left,  with  Howard's  as  support. 

A  glance  at  the  site  to  be  attacked  may  be 
helpful  to  the  reader,  by  enabling  him  to  thor 
oughly  comprehend  the  trials  of  the  assault.  The 
eminences  should  not  be  thought  of  as  a  ranofe ; 

o  o 

they  were  in  irregular  groups,  with  hollows  and 
ravines  between  them,  all  choked  with  stunted 
pine  trees  and  undergrowth,  without  break  or 
path.  The  turnpike  from  Dalton  unrolled  itself 
at  their  feet. 


THE    SOLDIER. 

In  front  of  the  Confederate  line  there  was  a  hill 
higher  than  the  others,  and  it  was  lodged  full  of 
sharpshooters ;  rearward  of  the  line  two  other 
eminences  were  plain  to  view;  and  on  the  nearest 
of  these  a  battery  had  been  planted,  masked  by 
the  woods,  while  the  other  was  crowned  by  a 
redoubt  skilfully  constructed.  Four  guns  looked 
from  the  redoubt  down  over  the  turnpike  like 
dogs  asleep  in  the  embrasures,  and  the  summit 
round  about  was  perfectly  cleared.  These  hills 
were  the  objects  of  attack. 

The  early  hours  of  the  forenoon  were  taken  up 
by  Hooker  in  getting  his  brigades  into  position  ; 
when  all  was  ready,  Butterfield  was  directed  to 
move  forward,  and  when  within  range  deploy  into 
columns  by  brigades.  Geary  and  Williams  were 
to  support  him. 

Butterfield's  plan  of  attack  was  simple.  To 
the  3d  Brigade,  Wood  commanding,  the  duty  of 
charging  the  heights  on  the  left  of  the  road  was 
assigned;  General  Ward,  with  his  ist  Brigade, 
was  to  gain  possession  of  the  hill  upon  the  right ; 
the  sd  Brigade,  under  Colonel  Coburn,  was  in 
reserve :  so  that  not  inaptly  it  has  been  said  that 
the  engagement  which  ensued  was  really  two 
battles  instead  of  one.  We  shall  confine  our 
selves  altogether  to  that  of  General  Ward. 

At  two  o'clock  that  Sunday  morning  the  ist 
Brigade  (Ward's)  had  been  roused  to  throw  up 
breastworks.  It  was  their  first  attempt  in  that 


I92  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

branch  of  the  art  of  war,  and  they  were  engaged 
at  it  when  the  sun  rose 'struggling  with  the  smoke 
of  the  many  camps.  Hardly  had  they  taken 
coffee  when  an  order  reached  Butterfield  directing 
him  to  move  his  division  to  the  left  of  the  I4th 
Army  Corps. 

The  march  lay  in  the  rear  of  the  lines,  through 
heavy  pine  groves.  The  expectation  of  battle 
was  in  every  mind;  the  gloom  of  the  woods 
heightened  the  remembrance  that  it  was  Sunday 
at  home,  if  not  there.  The  silence  of  the  march 
was  unbroken  except  by  an  occasional  order  from 
an  officer  and  the  clink  and  rattle  of  canteens 
and  bayonets.  At  last  the  new  position  was 
reached.  A  halt  was  called  at  the  top  of  an 
elevation,  at  the  foot  of  which  lay  a  narrow  valley 
terminating  in  a  higher  hill.  Looking  over  the 
valley,  and  the  pine  woods  that  cloaked  it,  the 
men  saw  in  half  concealment  on  the  opposite 
summit  a  line  of  skirmishers  deployed  and  ready 
for  business. 

Hardly  had  they  time  to  take  in  the  situation 
when  the  ominous  order  passed  down,  "  Unsling 
— knapsacks !  "  A  detail  was  made  to  guard 
them  ;  then,  as  best  might  be  on  account  of  the 
ground,  the  three  brigades  were  formed  each  into 
a  column  of  regiments.  While  the  division  stood 
in  this  order,  facing  the  skirmishers  on  the  oppo 
site  crest,  they  began  to  surmise  the  purpose  of 
their  transfer  over  to  the  extreme  left,  and  when 


THE   SOLDIER.  1 93 

the  final  preparative  order  "  Fix  bayonets  "  was 
given,  every  man  understood  he  was  to  take  part 
in  an  assault  upon  the  enemy  in  position.  Whether 
he  was  to  look  for  that  enemy  behind  parapets  or 
in  the  open  like  themselves,  became  a  question 
of  liveliest  interest.  As  the  experience  was  a 
new  one,  even  the  bravest  heart  might  be  excused 
if  it  beat  unusually  fast. 

To  General  Ward,  of  the  ist  Brigade,  there 
presently  rode  an  officer  with  the  order  to  attack. 
The  hill  on  the  right  of  the  road  was  pointed  out 
to  him  as  the  one  against  which  he  was  to  direct 
his  column.  Without  loss  of  time  the  order  was 
repeated  to  Colonel  Harrison,  who,  appreciating 
the  work  before  him,  paused  to  give  some  di 
rections.  Seeing  the  impossibility  of  making  way 
through  the  woods  and  dense  undergrowth  on 
horseback,  he  ordered  a  general  dismount  of  field 
and  staff  officers,  and  dismounted  himself.  He 
also  made  up  his  mind  that  it  would  be  difficult, 
if  not  absolutely  impossible,  to  preserve  his  line  ; 
once  fairly  within  the  grove  of  young  pine  trees 
he  would  be  unable  to  see  from  right  to  left  of  his 
regiments;  if  the  captains  could  do  better  with 
their  companies,  they  might  congratulate  them 
selves.  The  colors  were  to  be  displayed  to  the 
best  advantage  as  a  centre  about  which  the  men 
were  to  mass  themselves,  and  by  which  they  were 
to  govern  their  advance.  He  said  to  the  officer 
who  brought  'him  the  order :  "  I  am  not  familiar 
15 


194  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

with  the  ground  ;  you  are.  Go  with  me,  and  show 
me  the  battery ;  I  do  not  want  to  charge  flank  on 
to  it."  The  two  then  started  to  reconnoitre.  The 
report  of  a  gun  saved  them  the  trouble.  Divining 
the  direction  from  the  shell  which  passed  over  his 
head,  Harrison  called  out  so  as  to  be  heard  by 
the  line  behind  him,  "  Come  on,  boys,"  and  started 
down  the  hill. 

At  that  moment  the  formation  of  the  brigade 
was  as  follows :  7oth  Indiana,  79th  Ohio,  and  iO2d, 
iO5th  and  I29th  Illinois,  with  the  right  in  front. 
This  placed  Colonel  Harrison  in  the  lead ;  and 
while  running  he  marked  out  as  well  as  he  could, 
down  the  hill,  across  the  valley,  and  up  the  oppo 
site  ascent  the  line  he  was  to  pursue.  He  yet 
remembers  computing  the  distance  to  be  passed 
before  he  could  strike  the  enemy  at  about  six 
hundred  yards. 

The  brigade,  with  a  great  shout,  put  itself  in 
motion,  arms  at  right  shoulder  shift,  and  all  the 
flags  raised  to  the  utmost.  The  crash  of  the  five 
regiments  through  the  underbrush,  the  rush  and 
tear,  must  be  imagined. 

Seeing  so  large  a  body  of  men  in  the  act  of 
charging,  the  rebels  on  the  opposite  crest  opened 
upon  it  with  great  guns  and  small.  The  target 
was  large;  no  need  to  take  aim.  Under  the 
sharp  "  zip/'  "  zip  "  of  the  bullets,  and  the  singing 
"  p-i-n-g  "  of  grape-shot,  familiar  to  every  veteran, 
officers  and  men  took  up  the  cry  of "  forward." 


THE    SOLDIER.  1 95 

As  was'anticipated,  the  column  rushing  down  the 
declivity  lost  its  alignments  and  intervals,  and 
fused  into  a  mass  while  crossing  the  valley.  When 
the  ascent  was  made,  the  entanglement  of  the 
several  commands  had  become  inextricable.  But, 
in  that  supreme  disorder,  they  still  bore  on,  un 
mindful  of  the  cannon  in  the  redoubt  then  con 
fronting  them — on  through  the  smoke  and  terrible 
din.  Men  fell  fast,  and  there  was  no  time  to  carry 
them  to  the  rear ;  scarcely  time  to  avoid  trampling 
the  wounded  to  death.  Colors  now  and  then  went 
down ;  next  moment  they  would  reappear.  At 
length  the  redoubt  was  reached ;  without  halting 
or  wavering  the  exultant  mass  poured  over  and 
into  it,  and  then,  the  capture  effected,  the  guns  in 
possession,  every  regiment  in  the  brigade  was 
represented  there;  nor  may  it  be  said  with  truth 
that  the  success  was  attributable  to  any  one  of 
the  several  commands  exclusively. 

Colonel  Harrison  was  amongst  the  first  to  cross 
the  parapet.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was  the 
very  first.  A  hand-to-hand  combat  ensued,  the 
gunners  defending  themselves  with  their  ram 
mers  and  the  assailants  attacking  with  their 
clubbed  muskets  ;  officers  exchanged  pistol  shots. 
It  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  rare  instances  of  a 
genuine  bayonet-charge  without  a  shot  fired  ex 
cept  by  the  defenders  of  the  redoubt.  The  artil 
lerymen  stood  at  their  posts  to  the  last;  those 
not  killed  were  taken  prisoners.  The  air  rang 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

• 

with  victorious  cheers,  and  for  a  while  the  en 
closure  was  a  scene  of  frantic  joy.  The  colors 
had  all  been  borne  inside,  and  to  both  friend  and 
enemy  in  the  distance  they  announced  that  the 
height  was  gained. 

But  this  was  only  for  an  instant.  Before  the 
officers  could  begin  the  work  of  reformation, 
while  the  men  in  their  exuberance  of  triumph 
were  embracing  each  other  and  shouting,  the 
rebels,  on  the  right  and  left,  and  in  the  second 
line  of  works  of  which  they  had  repossessed 
themselves,  opened  a  cross-fire  upon  them  so 
deadly  that  in  a  few  minutes  the  interior  of  the 
redoubt  was  vacated,  and  the  conquerors  outside 
in  cover  behind  the  parapet  and  every  convenient 
thing  in  the  vicinity.  Unfixing  bayonets,  they  re 
turned  the  fire  and  were  doing  well  when  two 
other  misfortunes  befell  them.  Some  one  shouted 
that  there  was  an  order  to  retreat.  From  whom 
the  cry  proceeded  is  to  this  day  unknown.  Then, 
to  complete  the  distraction,  they  were  fired  upon 
from  behind  with  fatal  effect.  Pelted  thus  front 
and  rear,  enfiladed  right  and  left,  confused  by 
conflicting  orders,  distracted,  the  major  part  of 
them  retreated  to  the  foot  of  the  hill.  Neverthe 
less  a  number  clung  to  the  redoubt,  swearing  that 
they  had  captured  the  guns  and  were  going  to 
stay  with  them,  and  they  made  the  word  good  by 
repulsing  every  attempt  to  retake  them. 

In  short,  the  redoubt  was  held,  thouglvfrom  the 


_J 


THE   SOLDIER.  1 97 

outside.  Once  the  men  about  it  holding  grimly 
on  heard  the  music  of  a  band  wafted  to  them 
upon  the  evening  air.  They  thought  it  a  promise 
of  coming  relief,  and  that  there  was  never  melody 
so  sweet.  But  night  fell,  and  then,  when  the 
darkness  was  complete,  Colonel  Coburn  received 
an  order  to  send  a  detachment  to  bring  off  the 
guns.  A  tunnel  was  driven  through  the  parapet, 
all  hands  willingly  joining  in  the  work.  Then, 
amid  defiant  cheers,  the  trophies  were  taken  out 
with  the  dead  and  wounded. 

Colonel  Harrison  remained  at  the  redoubt  until 
satisfied  that  it  could  and  would  be  held.  Then 
he  went  to  the  foot  of  the  hill  to  assist  in  reform 
ing  his  men. 

"  Have  you  your  head  on  your  shoulders  yet?" 
he  asked  of  a  lieutenant. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Run,  then,  as  fast  as  you  can  and  tell  those 
fellows  in  the  rear  yonder  that  they  are  killing  us, 
and  to  stop  firing,  for  God's  sake." 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  he  was  informed  that 
General  Ward  had  been  wounded,  and  that  the 
command  of  the  brigade  had  devolved  upon 
him.  Remounting  his  horse,  he  had  the  colors 
planted  and  the  men  speedily  in  their  places,  and 
so  reporting,  he  requested  to  be  allowed  to  renew 
the  attack,  and  bring  off  the  remnant  on  the 
bill. 

Butterfield  referred  the  request  to  Hooker,  who 


198  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

came  in  person  to  see  about  it,  and  hearing  that 
the  men  about  the  redoubt  were  doing  well  and 
could  probably  hold  their  own  until  night,  he 
marched  the  brigade  off  to  another  quarter  of 
the  field. 

After  that  Colonel  Harrison  was  christened  by 
his  soldiers  "  Little  Ben,"  the  sobriquet  by  which 
they  still  know  him.  The  writer  has  before  him 
a  little  volume  entitled,  Our  Regiment:  A  His 
tory  of  the  iO2d  Illinois  Infantry  Volunteers.  De 
scribing  the  final  parting  of  the  regiments  after 
the  grand  review  at  Washington,  the  author  says : 

Halting  a  moment  at  brigade  head-quarters  we  gave 
three  cheers  for  "  Little  Ben  "  (Brevet  Brigadier-General 
Ben  Harrison),  then  looked  for  the  last  time  at  the  lone- 
star-triangle,  the  battle-flag  which  had  fluttered  before  us 
from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah, 
and  from  Savannah  to  the  last  encampment 

The  battle  of  Resaca,  though  unfortunate,  had 
been  honorable  to  the  National  arms ;  it  was 
especially  honorable  to  the  three  brigades  of  the 
3d  Division  of  the  2Oth  Army  Corps,  Wood's, 
Coburn's  and  Ward's.  In  the  crisis  of  the  at 
tack  by  Colonel  Harrison,  Colonel  Coburn  moved 
up  faithfully  to  his  support,  and,  ascending  the 
hill,  took  an  outwork,  but  could  get  no  further,  so 
fierce  was  the  fire.  To  help  him,  the  portion  of 
the  ist  Brigade  under  Colonel  Harrison — that 
rallied  after  the  retirement  from  the  redoubt — 
was  in  turn  moved  over,  and  joining  him,  assisted 


THE    SOLDIER.  1 99 

in  holding  position  the  remainder  of  the  day 
under  the  very  brow  of  the  greater  rebel  fortifi 
cation.  Wood's  assault  of  the  other  height  had 
been  equally  brave  and  unsuccessful.  Sherman 
and  his  whole  line  of  battle  were  delighted  when 
the  next  morning  disclosed  the  stubborn  enemy 
gone,  and  Resaca  at  mercy. 

Three  days  afterward  Colonel  Harrison  had 
the  pleasure  of  supporting  Colonel  Coburn  in  the 
latter's  brilliant  capture  of  Cassville. 

General  Butterfield,  in  a  complimentary  order 
to  the  troops  of  his  division,  said:  "On  the  i8th 
the  division  marched  twenty  miles — much  of  it 
in  the  heat  of  the  sun ;  partially  making  its  own 
roads ;  moving  five  miles  in  line  of  battle,  and 
driving  the  enemy  before  them.  On  the  I9th 
the  division  again  moved  to  the  enemy's  ex 
treme  right.  The  advance  of  the  ist  Brigade,  un 
supported,  driving  the  enemy  to  within  one  and  a 
half  miles  of  Cassville,  by  the  Adairsville  road ; 
the  reconnoissance  of  the  3d  Brigade  to  the  rail 
road  between  Kingston  and  Cassville,  unsup 
ported,  and  in  the  presence  of  five  times  its 
number  of  the  enemy ;  the  defiant  attitude  of  the 
division,  alone  and  unsupported,  when  threatened 
by  thrice  its  number ;  the  assault  and  capture  of 
Cassville,  by  the  2d  Brigade ;  the  daring  and  bold 
ness  of  the  artillery,  especially  the  section  of 
Battery  C,  ist  Ohio,  Lieutenant  King  command 
ing  ;  their  fine  practice  at  the  enemy's  retreating 


2OO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

columns,  and  the  conduct  and  bearing  of  the 
whole  division  throughout  the  two  days,  espe 
cially  while  in  the  presence  of  the  main  army  of 
the  enemy,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  commenda 
tion.  Resaca  and  Cassville  are  proud  names  for 
our  banners." 

From  Cassville  southward  still,  and  every  day 
a  collision  of  some  sort  with  the  enemy — at  every 
halt  a  breastwork  built.  In  this  latter  incident 
the  army  was  becoming  singularly  expert.  The 
spade  was  of  course  the  reliable  tool,  but  not 
seldom,  when  the  enemy  was  near,  and  his  bullets 
flying  low,  the  scooping  of  the  loose  earth  was 
done  with  tin-cups  and  plates.  The  sides  of  a 
split  canteen  were  favorite  tools.  Here  is  the 
scene : 

The  regiment  is  moving  by  the  flank,  generally 
the  right.  Suddenly  it  comes  upon  the  skir 
mishers  covering  the  front.  The  firing  is  warm, 
and  the  enemy  in  force.  "  Halt ! "  rings  down 
the  column.  Every  man  comes  to  a  "shoulder," 
the  whole  body  moved  up  to  intervals.  There  is 
scarcely  a  pause — in  a  breath  almost  the  com 
panies  front,  and  then  double-quick  into  line  of 
battle.  There  is  a  rattle  of  steel,  and  the  arms 
are  stacked.  The  Colonel  gallops  along  the 
front;  the  ground  is  chosen — "A  breastwork  here 
— get  to  work — break  ranks — march  !  "  Thus 
the  Colonel ;  and  if  the  need  is  great,  he  winds  up 
with — "  Quick,  lads  !  "  The  spades  and  picks  are 


THE    SOLDIER.  2OT 

distributed  on  the  run.     There  is  no  lagging — 
everybody  is  willing — it  may  be  life  or  death. 

And  as  to  the  process.  The  beginning  is  a 
trench,  with  the  earth  thrown  to  the  inside.  Not 
a  spadeful  is  wasted.  When  deep  enough  to 
cover  a  man  lying  flat,  the  "  hands  "  are  shifted 
inside,  and  there  another  ditch  is  dug,  and  the 
wastage  added  to  the  bank,  which  is  now  long  as' 
the  regimental  front.  It  has  risen  like  magic.  If 
time  allows,  and  the  timber  is  convenient,  the  cop 
ing  of  the  breastwork  is  overlaid  with  heavy  logs. 
What  is  most  surprising — the  men  who  do  the 
work,  sometimes  in  feverish  haste,  who  crawl 
into  the  inner  ditch  as  if  to  take  up  their  abode 
there,  who  defend  the  shallow  parapet  for  days 
and  weeks,  will,  when  the  time  comes,  march 
away  from  them  without  regret.  It  may  be 
safely  said  that  there  is  no  labor  so  willingly  done 
by  a  soldier  as  the  construction  of  a  breastwork 
or  a  rifle-pit  when  the  foe  have  "  got  the  ranges  " 
upon  him. 

Probably  no  army  ever  became  more  skilful  in 
this  "gophering"  than  Sherman's  during  the 
days  it  was  keeping  grip  upon  Joe  Johnston. 
Their  rivals,  if  they  really  had  any,  were  the  men 
in  gray  who  opposed  them. 

Colonel  Harrison's  command  did  not  fall  be 
hind  in  the  accomplishment.  From  Resaca  on 
they  had  scarcely  a  halt  in  the  day  or  the  night 
that  was  not  marked  by  a  hasty  fortification ;  for 


202  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

in  truth  the  commands  all  came  as  near  living 
under  fire  the  while  as  soldiers  ever  did — not 
one,  but  all  of  them.  While  Resaca  was  the 
Colonel's  first  real  battle,  it  was  simply  an  intro 
duction  to  a  series  of  others  swift  in  coming,  and 
each  seemingly  hotter  than  the  one  preceding. 
In  one  month  he  was  engaged  in  more  battles 
than  his  grandfather  William  Henry  Harrison 
fought  in  his  whole  life — more  than  Andrew 
Jackson  fought  in  his  life.  For  want  of  space  the 
engagements  in  which  he  participated  cannot  all 
be  given.  A  few  must  suffice  to  illustrate  the 
many. 

HARRISON    AT   NEW   HOPE   CHURCH. 

The  25th  of  May  found  Butterfield's  division 
on  the  march,  and  in  a  hurry,  for  there  was  warm 
work  before  it.  Shortly  after  noon  it  crossed 
Pumpkinville  creek,  stirred  by  the  clatter  of  a 
cavalry  skirmish  in  front.  As  it  proceeded,  the 
sound  changed  to  the  deeper  tones  of  battle, 
which  are  as  base-drum  beating  to  the  turn-turn 
of  a  tamborine.  The  messengers  from  the 
advance  explained  it — the  ist  and  2d  Divisions  of 
the  corps  (2oth)  had  been  attacked  by  a  heavy 
force  on  the  Dallas  road,  near  New  Hope 
Church. 

Arriving  in  the  rear  of  the  position  held  by 
their  friends  of  the  corps,  the  three  brigades  of 
the  3d  Division  were  formed  in  line  of  battle  by 
regiments  in  mass ;  the  2d  (Coburn's)  moved 


THE   SOLDIER.  2O3 

forward  to  support  the  3d  (Wood's).  After  go 
ing  a  distance  of  a  mile  in  the  direction  of  the 
firing,  the  3d  Brigade  bore  off  to  the  left,  while 
the  2d  advanced  to  the  front,  leaving  the  ist  in 
reserve.  The  country  over  which  the  movement 
proceeded  is  described  as  an  unbroken  forest 
with  undulations  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in 
height.  Upon  one  of  them  the  enemy  had  forti 
fied.  The  position  was  admirably  chosen  for  the 
use  of  artillery;  the  whole  ground  of  advance 
was,  in  fact,  commanded  by  the  rebel  guns.  The 
2d  Brigade,  taking  position,  was  at  once  engaged, 
after  which  it  was  give  and  take  in  close  range 
for  the  remainder  of  the  day.  The  sun  went 
down  upon  the  fight ;  darkness  came,  and  still 
there  was  no  cessation  of  the  musketry  and  the 
roar  of  the  great  guns.  And  to  all  the  indescrib 
able  horrors  of  the  combat  there  was  now  added 
a  cold,  searching  and  continuous  rain  which  had 
the  effect  to  compel  a  cessation  of  the  struggle. 

But  as,  when  the  firing  ceased,  the  result  of  the 
engagement  was  undetermined,  the  ist  Brigade 
was  brought  up  shivering,  cold  and  wet,  with  no 
dry  place  on  which  to  fling  themselves.  Colonel 
Harrison,  sharing  all  the  discomforts  with  his 
men,  set  to  work  with  them  constructing  a  breast 
work,  and,  that  completed,  waited  for  what  the 
dawn  might  bring  him. 

In  the  mist  of  the  morning  the  battle  began 
anew.  The  night  had  been  but  a  respite.  Then, 


204  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

immediately,  Colonel  Harrison  discovered  that 
through  the  failure  of  the  guide  his  whole  com 
mand  was  out  in  an  open  field  to  the  right  of  the 
Sand  Town  road,  which  should  have  marked  the 
right  of  his  position.  Almost  the  first  cannon 
shot  apprised  him  of  the  mistake,  and  that  it  was 
of  a  serious  nature.  The  guns  were  turned  upon 
him ;  and,  to  use  the  language  of  another  de 
scribing  the  fight,  shells,  grape-shot,  canister,  rail 
road  spikes,  and  every  deadly  missile  rained 
about  his  regiment.  As  best  they  could,  hugging 
the  half-finished  earthwork  before  them,  the  ditch 
but  a  pool  of  muddy  water,  his  men  returned  the 
fire.  And  all  that  day  the  contest  continued  with 
scarce  an  intermission,  when  a  Wisconsin  regiment 
came  to  his  relief.  The  severity  of  the  fire  may 
be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the  relieving  regiment 
lost  two  field  officers  while  getting  into  position. 
That  night,  when  the  firing  ceased,  Colonel 
Harrison  had  his  dead  collected  for  burial.  His 
wounded  he  had  taken  to  a  little  frame  house 
standing  a  short  distance  in  the  rear,  and  he  sent 
for  his  surgeons.  Unfortunately  they  had  sepa 
rated  from  the  command  in  the  darkness.  Anx 
ious,  solicitous  and  sympathetic,  in  their  absence 
the  Colonel  turned  surgeon  himself.  Taking  off 
his  coat  and  rolling  his  sleeves  to  his  elbows,  he 
set  to  staunching  the  wounds.  He  says,  speaking 
of  the  circumstance:  "I  do  not  know  whether  I 
did  any  service ;  I  tried  to."  He  caused  some 


THE    SOLDIER.  205 

tents  to  be  torn  up  for  bandages,  and  worked  in 
dustriously  several  hours  before  the  surgeons 
appeared.  When  they  came  into  the  improvised 
hospital,  they  found  him  covered  with  the  blood 
which  he  had  striven  to  stop.  In  the  dim,  flicker 
ing  light  of  candles  stuck  in  the  floor,  he  looked 
like  a  butcher  instead  of  a  Samaritan.  The  sur 
vivors  of  his  treatment  never  forgot  his  tender 
ness  and  the  sympathy  he  showed  by  look,  voice 
and  action. 

As  incidents  of  the  fight,  Colonel  Harrison  tells 
of  curious  injuries  received  by  his  Major. 

"  I  had  gone,"  he  says,  "  to  the  left  of  the  regi 
ment  and  sent  the  Major  towards  the  right ;  very 
soon  he  came  back  to  me  with  his  hand  on  his 
breast,  looking  pale  as  a  corpse.  I  saw  he  had 
had  a  terrible  shock  of  some  sort.  Pulling  open 
his  coat  I  did  not  see  any  blood ;  and  the  expla 
nation  was  this :  He  had  been  carrying  a  little 
spy-glass — one  of  those  with  a  round  barrel  that 
straightened  out  like  a  telescope — and  was  a  great 
hand  to  poke  about  the  skirmishing  line  with  it, 
trying  to  find  a  rebel  flag  or  battery.  I  said  to 
him  one  day,  '  Major,  they  will  shoot  you  in  the 
eye  right  through  that  durned  thing  while' you  are 
poking  around  that  way.'  Well,  instead  of  its 
being  the  cause  of  his  death,  it  actually  saved 
him.  A  bullet  had  struck  the  brass  eye-piece  of 
the  glass  and  been  deflected,  and  it  had  not  pen 
etrated  the  skin  at  all.  As  soon  as  he  saw  he 


2O6  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

was  not  hurt  he  laughed  at  himself,  remounted 
his  horse  and  went  back  to  his  place.  He  was 
gone  but  a  few  minutes  when  he  came  back  to 
me  all  doubled  up  in  a  knot,  apparently  carrying 
his  bowels  in  his  hands.  He  was  badly  hurt,  but 
still  I  could  not  see  a  drop  of  blood  about  him. 
It  turned  out  that  a  fragment  of  a  shell  had 
glanced  right  across  his  stomach,  bent  the  plate 
of  his  sword-belt,  tore  a  rent  in  his  blouse  so 
large  that  you  could  put  your  hand  through  it, 
and  all  leaving  only  a  black  spot  upon  his  body. 
I  ordered  him  from  the  field." 

Speaking  of  the  battle  of  New  Hope  Church, 
Colonel  Harrison  is  still  of  opinion  that  the  fight 
ing  was  as  heavy  as  he  was  at  any  time,  before  or 
afterwards,  subjected  to.  He  was  greatly  obliged 
to  the  Wisconsin  regiment  that  came  up  so  gal 
lantly  to  take  his  place,  and  feels  regret  that  he  is 
now  unable  to  give  its  number. 

HARRISON   AT  GILGAL   CHURCH. 

On  the  2Qth  of  May,  General  Ward  having 
been  advanced  to  the  command  of  the  division 
in  place  of  General  Butterfield,  Colonel  Harrison 
became  Chief  of  the  ist  Brigade  and  continued 
such  to  the  final  muster  out  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  war. 

A  curious  disposition  of  the  American  soldier 
is  to  name  a  battle  after  a  church,  if  such  a  build 
ing  happens  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  the  field.  So 


THE    SOLDIER.  2OJ 

it  came  about  that  the  engagement  of  New  Hope 
Church  was  presently  followed  by  that  of  Gilgal 
Church,  corrupted  into  Golgotha. 

On  the  1 5th  of  June,  the  3d  Division,  still  ad 
vancing  to  help  keep  the  "grip  "  on  Joe  Johnston, 
crossed  a  small  stream  below  Kemp's  mill,  on  the 
road  to  Gilgal  Church,  leaving  Lost  Mountain  a 
short  distance  to  the  right  and  west.  The  order 
of  march  had  been  with  the  right  or  ist  Brigade 
(Harrison's)  in  front.  Suddenly  the  skirmishers, 
feeling  their  way  in  advance,  struck  a  line  of  rebel 
works,  just  abandoned,  on  the  left  of  the  road. 
A  halt  was  called  to  form  for  battle.  The  2d  and 
3d  Brigades  took  position  in  lines  behind  the  ist. 
On  the  right  was  the  23d  Army  Corps ;  on  the 
left  the  remainder  of  the  2Oth  Corps. 

After  a  halt  of  two  hours,  occupied  in  getting 
the  troops  into  position,  Colonel  Harrison  was 
ordered  to  move  forward.  Crossing  an  open 
field,  broken  at  right  angles  to  his  line,  he  gained 
a  road  beyond,  and  dislodged  the  enemy's  skir 
mishers.  Following  them  closely  he  came  to  a 
woods.  On  the  further  side  of  a  ravine  that  par 
tially  obstructed  the  line  the  ground  ascended, 
and  became  a  ridge  well  covered  with  trees. 
There  was  a  stubborn  resistance  by  the  Con 
federate  skirmishers ;  but  Harrison,  allowing 
them  no  rest,  pushed  them  back  until  a  line  of 
earthworks  was  disclosed  not  more  than  two  hun 
dred  yards  in  his  front.  Then  the  clatter  of  small 


208  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

arms  was  drowned  in  the  roar  of  artillery.  The 
fire,  then  begun,  extended  off  to  the  right,  involv 
ing  the  23d  Corps. 

Colonel  Harrison's  advance  was  checked.  His 
regiment  stood  to  the  work — an  hour  passed, 
then  a  second — not  an  inch  of  ground  was  yielded. 
The  Colonel  rode  to  and  fro  behind  his  fileclosers, 
with  cool  indifference  to  the  plunging  shot  and 
shells.  The  strain  was  terrific.  At  last  he  re 
ported  his  ammunition  exhausted;  whereupon 
Coburn,  always  ready  to  assist  his  fellow-towns 
man,  rushed  his  brigade  forward.  Colonel  Har 
rison's  regiment  retired,  Coburn's  went  in.  The 
exchange  was  done  so  orderly  that  there  was  no 
break  in  the  front,  and  scarcely  an  interruption 
in  the  fire.  The  men  of  the  ist  Brigade  were 
fast  becoming  veterans.  All  the  afternoon  the 
struggle  continued.  Night  fell  at  last  and  hid 
the  combatants  from  each  other.  Thanks  to  the 
density  of  the  woods  the  National  loss  was  not  so 
great  as  the  commanders  feared. 

There  was  "  coffee  and  hard-tack."  Then  the 
old  resort  to  fortifying,  which  was  continued 
unremittingly  all  night.  When  the  sun  began  to 
light  up  the  shorn  forest  the  enemy,  looking  out 
of  his  embrasures  and  over  the  log  coping  of  his 
breastworks,  beheld  an  opposing  line  of  fresh 
yellow  earth  thrown  up  within  two  hundred  yards 
of  him. 

There  the  foemen  stood  watching  each  other 


THE    SOLDIER.  2OQ 

all  through  the   i6th.     That  day  the  skirmishers 
had  it  to  themselves. 

On  the  1 7th  the  Confederates  stole  away.  At 
5  o'clock  in  the  evening1  the  Nationals  were  in 
possession  of  the  coveted  works,  which  were  of 
three  lines,  the  first  one  capable  of  resisting  heavy 
artillery.  Its  front  was  moreover  garnished  with 
stakes  sharpened  at  the  points  and  fixed  firmly  in 
the  earth.  A  direct  assault,  though  successful, 
would  have  been  attended  with  dreadful  loss. 

HARRISON  AT  KENESAW. 

Then  came  the  great  day  at  Kenesaw. 

Preliminary  to  that,  on  the  22d  of  June,  Sher 
man  advanced  his  right  wing,  and  there  was  fight 
ing  all  along  the  line. 

Ward's  division,  on  the  left  of  Williams',  was, 
as  usual,  occupied  in  fortifying  their  ground.  To 
cover  the  working  parties  a  number  of  batteries 
had  been,  as  a  precaution,  planted  in  position  to 
sweep  an  open  field  along  which  any  interruption 
must  come.  In  the  afternoon  the  men  in  the 
trenches  were  brought  to  a  pause ;  leaning  upon 
their  picks  and  shovels  they  waited  for  what  a 
sudden  opening  of  the  guns  in  their  front  por 
tended.  Out  of  the  woods  they  saw  long  lines 
of  the  enemy,  closely  massed,  entering  the  open 
field  which  has  been  mentioned.  Their  appear 
ance  was  very  martial ;  their  battle-flags  were  all 
waving ;  their  yelp  sharp  and  continuous,  and 
14 


2IO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

their  forward  movement  with  determined  step. 
In  a  moment  it  was  discovered  that  the  order  of 
things  was  reversed ;  the  Confederates  were  the 
assailants.  Dropping  their  tools  the  brigades  in 
stantly  formed  to  receive  them  ;  but,  as  the  foe 
poured  across  the  open  field  directly  against  Wil 
liams'  division,  Ward's  soldiers  were  left  specta 
tors  of  the  fight.  Hardly  had  the  first  line  of  the 
gray  assailants  appeared  in  the  open  field  when 
the  batteries,  as  with  one  report,  poured  a  volley 
into  them.  Presently  musketry  was  added  to 
grape  and  canister,  and  the  range  became  point 
blank.  Still  they  would  not  go  back  or  even 
stop.  All  that  brave  men  could  do  they  did ; 
but  there  is  a  limit  to  the  purest  courage  ;  a  point 
at  which  it  too  is  overtaken  by  the  impossible. 
That  point  was  at  length  reached.  There  was  a 
slowing  of  the  advance  first ;  then  a  halt ;  and 
then  a  letting  go,  as  it  were,  and  an  indiscriminate 
rush  for  the  protection  of  the  woods.  The  open 
field  when  deserted  was  terribly  spotted  with  the 
dead  and  wounded. 

Such  was  Hood's  assault  in  the  battle  known 
as  Kulp's  Hill.  The  Confederates  halted  at  the 
edge  of  the  woods,  and  all  day  the  3d  Division 
stood  to  arms  on  the  verge  of  a  battle.  At  noon 
a  general  advance  was  ordered.  The  works, 
scarcely  finished,  were  abandoned.  Moving  for 
ward  in  column  the  three  brigades  crossed  an 
open  field.  Directly  the  cry  was  again  raised 


THE    SOLDIER.  211 

"  forward,"  with  the  addition  of  "double-quick." 
The  open  field  was  passed  ;  the  lines  disappeared 
in  the  woods  beyond  it;  still  under  the  "double 
quick  "  they  issued  from  the  pine  trees  which  had 
concealed  them,  and,  unmindful  of  the  close  fire 
with  which  the  enemy  saluted  them,  pushed  on  to 
be  at  length  halted  in  reserve.  And  from  the 
elevated  position  they  thus  occupied  they  wit 
nessed  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain. 

The  troops  the  division  was  to  support  were 
deployed  in  extension  of  the  grand  line  stretched 
like  a  blue  ribbon  alonof  the  foot  of  the  famous 

o 

mountain.  Occasionally  a  shell  would  strike  the 
earth  or  burst  in  air  uncomfortably  near  him  ;  yet 
aware  that  a  grand  attack  was  ready  to  be  de 
livered  against  the  enemy,  Colonel  Harrison, 
with  some  of  his  officers,  stood  out  to  see  all  of 
it  that  was  to  be  seen. 

Sherman's  description  of  the  topography  of  the 
field  is  singularly  picturesque: 

"  Kenesaw,  the  bold  and  striking  twin  moun 
tain,  lay  before  us  with  a  high  range  of  chestnut 
hills  trending  off  to  the  northeast,  terminating  to 
our  view  in  another  peak  called  Brushy  Moun 
tain.  To  our  right  was  the  smaller  hill  called 
Pine  Mountain,  and  beyond  it  in  the  distance 
Lost  Mountain.  All  these,  though  links  in  a  con 
tinuous  chain,  present  a  sharp,  conical  appearance, 
prominent  in  the  vast  landscape  that  presents 
itself  from  any  of  the  hills  that  abound  in  that 


212  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

region.  Kenesaw,  Pine  Mountain  and  Lost 
Mountain  form  a  triangle;  Pine  Mountain  the 
apex,  and  Kenesaw  and  Lost  Mountains  the 
base,  covering  perfectly  the  town  of  Marietta  and 
the  railroad  back  to  the  Chattahoochie." 

The  scene  offered  Colonel  Harrison  is  not 
often  given  to  men.  The  Nationals  were  well 
defined  from  one  wing  to  the  other,  a  distance  of 
fully  ten  miles.  The  three  armies  were  in  order 
of  battle — McPherson's,  Thomas'  and  Schofield's. 
All  the  low  lands  appeared  dressed  in  blue  haze. 
The  mountains  looked  down  upon  them,  serenely 
unconscious  of  the  preparations  going  on  to 
make  them  historical  forever. 

There  were   in    si^ht   unnumbered   battalions 

o 

with  their  flags  fluttering  above  them  ;  squadrons 
of  cavalry  hidden  behind  knolls;  parks  of  artil 
lery  on  the  low  summits — all  fronting  the  one 
way. 

With  the  help  of  glasses,  the  group  with  Har 
rison  could  see  the  hill-top  which  had  been  cleared 
expressly  to  enable  Sherman  to  overlook  the 
operation.'  It  arose  in  the  rear  and  near  the 
centre  of  Thomas'  part  of  the  line.  Telegraph 
wires  ran  from  it  to  the  headquarters  of  his  three 
subordinate  chiefs. 

The  interest  in  the  battle  was  greater  because 
it  was  a  deliberately  planned  assault  upon  fortified 
lines — "a  thing,"  as  Sherman  says,  "carefully 
avoided  up  to  that  time.'* 


THE    SOLDIER.  213 

Artillery  firing  began  at  daybreak.  About 
8.30  it  ceased,  and  there  was  silence  below  and 
on  the  heights.  Near  9  o'clock  Sherman  appeared 
on  his  lookout.  Then  all  at  once  a  fire  of  mus 
ketry  and  great  guns  broke  out,  and  speedily  a 
whitish  curtain  was  visible  along  the  whole  ten 
miles  of  front. 

Instantly  the  positions  of  the  Confederates  were 
similarly  curtained.  The  wind,  sweeping  up  the 
mountain,  spread  the  smoke  from  the  replying 
guns  over  its  broad  face  so  that  the  details  upon 
it,  the  rocks,  the  ravines,  the  patches  of  pine 
groves,  looked  as  though  they  were  rapidly  fading 
out. 

Then  a  column  was  discovered  pushing  out 
toward  the  lesser  Kenesaw  from  McPherson.  A 
mile  further  to  the  right  a  like  column  advanced 
from  Thomas.  A  mighty  cheer  burst  from  the 
comrades  left  in  waiting,  after  which  they  all  held 
their  breath. 

McPherson's  column  could  not  make  the  sum 
mit  at  which  it  had  been  directed.  Every  step 
upward  was  contested  —  every  inch,  in  fact. 
Thomas'  gained  the  parapet — that  was  all.  Toil 
as  they  might,  fight  as  they  well  knew  how,  both 
assaults  stopped  short.  Refusing  to  retire,  how 
ever,  the  regiments  fell  to  and  built  parapets  for 
themselves  within  a  few  yards  of  the  rebel 
trenches.  McPherson's  loss  was  in  the  hundreds, 
Thomas'  up  in  the  thousands ;  though  they  could 


214  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

not  take  the  heights,  the  Nationals  nevertheless 
kept  their  "  grip  "  all  the  same. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  July  Johnston  had 
bidden  old  Kenesaw  good-bye.  The  fox  was 
"  off  with  the  wind  "  again. 

HARRISON  AT  PEACH  TREE  CREEK. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  Colonel  Har 
rison  and  Colonel  John  Coburn  were  fellow- 
townsmen,  Indianapolis  being  their  place  of  resi 
dence.  We  have  also  spoken  of  the  good  will 
existing  between  them.  We  take  great  pleasure 
in  repeating  the  fact  because  of  the  rivalry,  in 
many  instances  jealousy,  existing  between  offi 
cers,  especially  those  from  the  same  locality.  We 
have  now  to  observe  another  example  of  the 
kindly  relations  between  the  two. 

On  the  2Oth  of  July,  the  3d  Division  (Ward's) 
crossed  Peach  Tree  creek  two  or  three  miles 
north  of  Atlanta;  on  its  left  was  Newton's  divi 
sion  of  the  4th  Corps,  and  on  its  right  Geary's 
division  of  the  2Oth  Corps.  The  whole  Army  of 
the  Cumberland  had  crossed  the  creek  the  even 
ing  before  or  that  morning.  The  creek  bottom 
on  the  south  side  was  from  two  to  three  hundred 
yards  wide ;  the  creek  itself  was  muddy  and 
seemed  in  a  state  of  freshet.  It  was  found  to  be 
unfordable.  The  pioneers  of  the  ist  and  2d 
Divisions  had  accordingly  constructed  a  bridge 
some  distance  down  for  the  passage  of  the  ist 


THE    SOLDIER.  215 

and  2d  Divisions,  and  they  crossed  it  immedi 
ately  after  Newton's.  The  formation  of  the  line 
was  then  begun,  because  everybody  was  aware 
that  the  enemy  was  <n  force  just  in  front  and 
might  attack  at  any  minute. 

The  position  chosen  was  upon  the  top  of  a 
ridge  300  or  400  yards  from  the  creek  on  the 
south.  The  ist  Division,  by  order,  remained  in 
the  creek  bottom  on  a  line  some  300  yards  to  the 
rear  of  the  remainder  of  the  army,  leaving  a  gap 
perhaps  a  quarter  or  a  third  of  a  mile  in  width 
between  Geary  on  the  right  and  Newton.  It  was 
the  expectation  that  this  gap  would  be  filled  by 
Ward.  Exactly  why  lie  was  not  moved  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge  so  as  to  perfect  the  line  is  not 
now  known  ;  the  surmise  was  that  Hooker,  under 
whose  order  he  remained  below,  did  not  wish  to 
expose  them  unnecessarily.  For,  while  the  troops 
on  the  right  and  left  of  the  gap  were  in  the 
woods,  the  gap  itself  was  in  an  open  field  extend 
ing  clear  to  the  rebel  lines  in  front.  Ward 
formed  on  the  flat  near  the  creek,  and  in  front  of 
him,  looking  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy,  there 
was  a  knoll,  beyond  that  a  higher  slope,  south  of 
which  was  the  open  field  stretching,  as  has  been 
said,  to  the  lines  of  the  enemy.  A  little  stream 
in  Ward's  front,  trickling  to  a  junction  with  Peach 
Tree  creek,  afforded  water  for  an  old  mill  and 
the  intersection  of  the  creeks  on  the  right  was 
slightly  overlooked  by  a  bluff  covered  with  corn 


21  6  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

nearly  breast-high.  In  this  position  Harrison's 
brigade,  like  the  others  of  his  division,  was  rest 
ing,  as  the  phrase  goes,  on  arms ;  behind  the 
musket-stacks  some  of  the  men  were  cooking 
and  others  sleeping.  Occasionally  a  stray  shot 
fired  over  the  bluff  would  go  whistling  over  the 
flat;  but  by  this  time  the  sound  had  become  so 
familiar  that  little  attention  was  paid  to  it.  The 
cooks  got  their  meals  ready,  the  sleepers  slept  on. 

Colonel  Coburn,  however,  was  restless  and, 
wishing  to  see  what  was  in  front  of  him,  rode  to 
the  top  of  the  highest  of  the  ridges.  There  he 
found  a  soldier  by  the  name  of  Crist  picking  black 
berries.  He  dismounted,  and  helped  himself 
also.  The  bullets  of  the  enemy's  pickets  pinged 
sometimes  uncomfortably  near.  He  warned  Crist 
that  if  he  stayed  there  he  might  get  shot.  See 
ing  all  quiet  apparently  on  the  enemy's  side,  and 
the  divisions  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  gap  in 
place,  and  apparently  at  ease,  Coburn  returned 
to  his  camp  below. 

About  the  same  time  Harrison  noticed  some 
officers  upon  the  edge  of  the  same  bluff,  and 
wishing  to  see  for  himself  the  lay  of  things  be 
yond,  he  too  rode  up  to  the  summit,  and  found 
General  Hooker  there.  The  General  was  at  the 
moment  placing  a  battery  in  position  ;  he  recog 
nized  the  Colonel  and  complimented  him,  saying 
that  he  liked  to  see  an  officer  examine  the  field  in 
advance  of  the  fight.  Upon  his  return,  Harrison 


-   THE    SOLDIER.  217 

extended  his  line  far  enough  below  his  place  on 
the  height  to  fill  it  with  the  least  delay.  Then, 
at  Coburn's  suggestion,  both  brigades  were 
moved  forward  from  the  flat  to  the  little  knoll  in 
their  front.  There  the  men  resumed  their  rest 
and  their  cooking. 

It  was  not  long  until  Crist,  who  had  remained 
in  the  blackberry  patch,  came  running  over  the 
larger  crest  and  reported  to  Coburn  that  the 
whole  rebel  army  was  moving  to  attack.  Co- 
burn  called  his  brigade  to  arms,  mounted  his 
horse,  and  rode  in  haste  to  report  to  Ward.  On 
.the  way  he  stopped  and  notified  Colonel  Harri 
son  of  the  appearance  of  things.  Colonel  Harri 
son  called  his  brigade  to  arms  also.  Ward  at 
first  refused  to  believe  the  reported  advance  of 
the  enemy,  and  said  that  Hooker's  orders  ware 
for  him  to  remain  in  the  bottom  where  he  was. 
Finally,  however,  he  gave  permission  for  Coburn 
and  Harrison  to  move  forward  to  the  higher 
ridge.  And,  while  they  were  in  the  act  of  doing 
so,  the  foremost  line  of  the  Confederates  made 
its  appearance.  Colonel  Harrison  at  once  com 
prehended  the  danger.  It  was  not  merely  that 
the  higher  ground  was  in  possession  of  the 
enemy,  but  the  gap  in  the  Union  line,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  breadth,  was  also  held  by  them.  If 
they  were  quick  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advan 
tage,  the  left  of  Newton's  division  and  the  right 
of  Geary's  were  turned;  and  as  a  further  result 


218  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

the  whole  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  in  ex 
ceeding  great  peril. 

Hooker's  order  halting  Ward's  division  in  the 

o 

creek  bottom  might  consequently  become  a  mis 
take  with  the  most  fatal  consequences.  In  this 
emergency,  without  waiting  for  orders,  Harrison 
gave  command  to  his  brigade,  which,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  deployed,  to  forward  double- 
quick.  The  rebels  halted  and  opened  fire.  But 
without  faltering  Harrison  led  his  line  down  the 
hollow  before  him,  and  began  the  ascent  oppo 
site.  He  was  resolved,  if  the  thing  were  possible, 
to  push  the  enemy  back,  and  form  connection 
with  Newton  on  his  right.  To  succeed  he  of 
course  depended  upon  quick  support  from  Co- 
burn  and  Wood,  the  latter  in  command  of  the  3d 
Brigade.  Unmindful  of  the  fire  he  made  the 
ascent,  though  with  loss,  and  closed  with  the 
enemy.  Then  upon  the  brow  of  the  ridge  a 
hand-to-hand  encounter  ensued,  in  which  bayo 
nets,  clubbed  muskets,  and  pistols  were  used, 
making  the  second  instance  of  the  kind  within 
his  experience.  The  men  in  the  ranks  were  as 
keenly  alive  to  the  danger  of  the  moment  as  their 
officers.  They,  too,  possibly,  saw  the  conse 
quences  of  the  mistake  which  had  left  them  in 
the  hollow.  Probably  officers  were  never  better 
supported  in  the  determination  to  do  or  die.  So, 
when  they  came  hand  to  hand  with  the  enemy, 
being  under  the  impetus  of  the  charge,  they  were 


THE    SOLDIER.  21 9 

irresistible.  While  the  struggle  was  yet  pending 
and  in  its  full  fury,  Coburn,  with  his  command, 
passed  up  the  hill,  and,  entering  the  engagement, 
covered  Harrison's  exposed  flank,  and  engaged 
the  enemy  along  his  whole  front ;  then  riding  to 
Wood,  who  was  standing  at  a  halt,  he  suggested 
that  he  too  advance  up  the  hill.  Wood  replied 
at  first  that  his  orders  were  to  stay  where  he  was. 
But  seeing  the  necessity  he  presently  gave  the 
order  and,  imitating  the  rush  of  the  other  brigades, 
left  no  cause  of  complaint  with  them. 

In  the  flurry  of  the  combat  Colonel  Harrison  re 
tained  his  mind  perfectly.  It  happened  that  when 
the  attack  developed  he  had  near  one  hundred 
men  of  a  New  York  regiment  in  his  front,  de 
tailed  to  help  the  skirmishers.  They  were  spe 
cially  selected  because  armed  with  Spencer  re 
peating  rifles.  Time  to  return  them  to  their 
command  proper  was  too  short.  He  cast  about 
to  make  them  useful,  and  seeing  the  old  mill 
ordered  them  into  it.  They  did  excellent  service 
there  in  aiding  to  hold  the  Confederates  upon 
the  brow  of  the  hill  while  the  brigades  were  rush 
ing  upward.  Harrison  says  they  held  them  stiff 
as  ever  he  saw. 

The  battery  which  Hooker  had  put  in  position 
did  well  also.  The  guns  grew  burning  hot  while 
emptying  grape  and  canister  left-oblique  into  the 
enemy.  At  length  the  officer  in  charge  with 
drew  them.  As  Harrison  rode  up  the  hill  he 
met  him  retiring. 


22O  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

"  What  are  you  doing  out  here  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  am  ordered  to  retire  my  battery  to  the  rear 
of  your  division.  Our  right  is  broken,"  the  other 
answered. 

"  Don't  be  afraid,"  said  the  Colonel.  "  I'll  take 
care  of  your  guns.  Turn  about  and  put  them  into 
action  again." 

And  he  did,  returning  to  his  first  position. 

Seeing  the  overlapping  Confederates  begin 
ning  to  pour  past  his  left  he  became  fearful  that 
that  flank  would  be  turned  before  Coburn  could 
catch  on  to  it,  and  sent  his  adjutant-general,  Capt. 
Dunleary,  of  the  79th  Ohio,  to  break  some  com 
panies  of  the  regiment  on  that  extremity  to  the 
rear.  The  captain  came  back  to  him  discour 
aged.  "  It's  your  regiment,  the  7oth,"  he  said, 
"which  should  have  been  in  reserve,  but  they 
have  swung  into  the  front  line.  I  told  the  cap 
tain  to  reserve  his  left."  He  replied,  "I  can't  see 
it.  By  God,  I'm  going  to  the  top  of  the  hill 
with  the  rest."* 

It  seemed  at  one  time  as  if  the  division  over  on 
the  right  (Newton's)  was  broken.  If  so,  Harri 
son's  flank  on  that  side  would  be  swept  away. 
That  was  the  moment  the  battery  limbered  up  to 
go  to  the  rear,  as  has  been  stated.  Its  return  to 
position  reassured  Newton's  men,  so  that  nobody 
ran  away  except  the  kitchen  followers." 

*  Capt.  Endsley  (yoth  Indiana),  now  residing  in  Shelby  county,  Ind. 


.       THE    SOLDIER.  221 

The  ist  Brigade,  with  the  gallant  Coburn  and 
Wood  on  its  left,  gained  the  hill-top.  Harrison 
saw  the  crisis  of  the  fight  was  come.  Pushing  his 
horse  into  the  melee  he  called  to  his  men.  They 
recognized  him,  and  rushed  on.  Presently  the 
signs  improved.  He  beheld  the  assailants  falling 
fast;  their  line  wavered;  now  and  then  their 
colors  dropped,  but,  though  picked  up  in  a  twin 
kling,  they  no  longer  made  headway.  Finally 
they  gave  way,  and  were  whirled  down  the  hill 
on  their  side.  Then  the  same  thing  ensued  along 
the  whole  engaged  front — before  Coburn  and 
Wood  and  Newton. 

It  was  Hood's  first  attempt  to  break  up  Sher 
man's  tactics.  The  point  of  attack  had  been  well 
chosen.  Loring,  of  the  Confederates,  had  seen 
the  gap  between  Geary  and  Newton,  and  thought 
to  push  into  it.  Had  he  succeeded  it  is  difficult 
to  say  what  the  consequences  would  have  been. 
Behind  the  Union  line  ran  the  unforclable  creek. 
Altogether  there  was  but  one  thing  to  be  done, 
and  providentially  that  was  done. 

A  good  many  prisoners  were  taken.  Many 
more  wounded  men  were  picked  up  in  the  corn 
field  ;  some  of  them  were  not  found  until  the  next 
day.  The  sun  was  overhot  to  well  men.  What 
must  it  have  been  to  the  torn  fellows  athirst  and 
fainting  in  the  scant  shade  of  the  young  corn  ? 

In  the  afternoon  Hooker  went  riding  along  the 

o  o 

lines,  and  coming  to  Harrison  he  congratulated 
him  after  his  bluff  style. 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

"  By  God,"  he  said,  "  I'll  make  you  a  brigadier- 
general  for  this  fight !  " 

And  he  meant  what  he  said,  for  he  afterwards 
addressed  a  letter  to  Secretary  Stanton,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  copy : 

HEAD-QUARTERS  NORTHERN  DEPARTMENT, 

CINCINNATI,  OHIO,  October  31,  1864. 
HON.   E.   M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War  : 

I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  department  to  the  claims  of  Colonel 
Benjamin  Harrison  of  the  yoth  Indiana  Volunteers  for  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  Brigadier-General  Volunteers. 

Colonel  Harrison  first  joined  me  in  command  of  a  brigade  of  Ward's 
division  in  Lookout  Valley  preparative  .to  entering  upon  what  is  called 
the  Campaign  of  Atlanta.  My  attention  was  first  attracted  to  this  young 
officer  by  the  superior  excellence  of  his  brigade  in  discipline  and  instruc 
tion,  the  result  of  his  labor,  skill  and  devotion.  With  more  foresight  than 
I  have  witnessed  in  any  officer  of  his  experience,  he  seemed  to  act  upon 
the  principle  that  success  depended  upon  the  thorough  preparation  in  dis 
cipline  and  esprit  of  his  command  for  conflict,  more  than  on  any  influence 
that  could  be  exerted  on  the  field  itself,  and  when  collision  came  his 
command  vindicated  his  wisdom  as  much  as  his  valor.  In  all  of  the 
achievements  of  the  2Oth  Corps  in  that  campaign  Colonel  Harrison  bore 
a  conspicuous  part.  At  Resaca  and  Peach  Tree  Creek  the  conduct  of 
himself  and  command  was  especially  distinguished.  Colonel  Harrison 
is  an  officer  of  superior  abilities,  and  of  great  professional  and  personal 
worth.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  commend  him  favorably  to  the 
Honorable  Secretary,  with  the  assurance  that  his  preferment  will  be  a 
just  recognition  of  his  services  and  martial  accomplishments. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOSEPH  HOOKER,  Major-  General  Commanding. 

HARRISON    AT   THE    BATTLE    OF    NASHVILLE. 

Sherman  started  from  Chattanooga  in  pursuit 
of  Joe  Johnston  on  the  5th  of  May,  1864,  and  in 
the  morning  of  the  2d  of  September  following  his 
army  took  possession  of  Atlanta.  The  telegram 


THE    SOLDIER.  223 

announcing  the  capture  reached  Grant  at  City 
Point  about  10  o'clock  at  night,  and  the  rejoicing 
at  head-quarters  was  loud  and  long.  The  good 
soldier  sat  silent  some  time ;  at  last  he  turned  to 
his  adjutant-general,  and  said:  "This  is  a  great 
triumph,  and  we  will  honor  it  as  we  can.  Send  a 
telegram  to  the  corps  commanders  in  our  lines 
here,  and  tell  them  to  have  all  their  guns  loaded 
and  shotted,  and  trained  upon  the  enemy,  and  at 
12  o'clock  sharp  open  fire." 

At  12  o'clock  sharp  the  first  gun  was  fired  from 
Bermuda  Hundreds;  then  all  the  others,  five 
hundred  at  least,  joined  in  "  the  loud  acclaim/' 
The  Confederates,  aroused  and  angry,  took  to 
their  batteries,  and  replied,  and  as  they  would  not 
quit,  the  sun  came  up  on  the  great  duel.  Thus 
they,  too,  unconsciously  united  in  the  honors  ren 
dered. 

Down  at  Atlanta  the  rejoicing  was  equally 
fervid,  if  not  so  noisy.  Feeling  that  his  troops 
had  earned  a  rest,  Sherman  gave  it  to  them.  On 
his  own  part  a  new  campaign  was  to  be  deter 
mined  upon  and  arranged.  A  great  many  officers 
availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  go  home 
on  furlough.  About  that  time  Colonel  Harri 
son  received  an  order  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copy. 

HEAD-QUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GA.,  September  12,  1864. 
SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,  )     ,-,   . 

No.  71.  }   Extract' 

III.  Pursuant  to  instructions  from  the  War  Department  the  following 


224  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

officers  will  report  in  person  to  Hon.  O.  P.  Morton,  Governor  of  Indiana, 
at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  for  special  duty.  The  Quartermasters  Depart 
ment  will  furnish  transportation. 

By  order  of  MAJ  -GEN'L  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

L.  M.  DAYTON,  Aide-de-Camp. 
COL.  BEN.  HARRISON, 
70th  Reg't  Ind.  Inf.  Vol. 

For  two  years  Colonel  Harrison  had  been  con 
tinuously  in  the  field,  and,  as  the  order  afforded 
him  an  opportunity  to  visit  his  family  in  Indian 
apolis,  it  was  accepted.  Upon  his  arrival  there 
he  reported  to  Governor  Morton,  and  then  as 
certained  for  the  first  time  the  character  of  the 
special  duty  awaiting  him.  In  a  few  days  he 
entered  upon  a  systematic  canvass  of  the  State 
for  recruits,  who,  greatly  to  the  apprehension  of 
the  Governor,  had  been  slow  in  offering  them 
selves. 

Upon  the  gth  of  November,  Colonel  Harrison 
finished  the  canvass.  Having  in  the  meantime 
heard  that  Sherman's  preparations  were  complete 
for  the  opening  of  a  new  campaign,  he  made 
haste  to  rejoin  his  command  ;  and,  but  for  the 
failure  of  a  hack  to  make  connection  with  a  south- 
going  train  at  Indianapolis,  he  would  have  reached 
Atlanta  in  time  to  have  participated  in  the  cele 
brated  march  to  the  sea,  which  was  begun  on  the 
1 5th  of  November.  Taking  the  next  train,  how 
ever,  he  got  as  far  on  the  journey  as  Dal  ton, 
Georgia,  w'here,  unfortunately,  or  fortunately,  as 
the  case  may  be,  he  found  the  railroad  torn  up, 
making  further  progress  for  the  time  impossible. 


THE    SOLDIER.  225 

While  at  Dalton,  he  was  ordered  to  report  to 
General  Charles  Cruft  at  Chattanooga,  and  by  him 
was  put  in  command  of  troops  of  the  2Oth  Army 
Corps  cut  off  and  assembled  at  that  city.  He 
found  himself  presently  at  the  head  of  a  brigade. 
Shortly  afterwards,  in  imitation  of  Sherman's  bold 
departure  from  Atlanta,  for  the  sea,  Hood  swung 
around,  and  crossed  the  Tennessee  river  en  route 
to  the  North ;  whereupon  Colonel  Harrison  with 
his  brigade  was  transferred  to  Nashville.  There 
he  was  assigned  to  Cruft's  division  of  Steadman's 

o 

command,  then  holding  the  left  of  the  defenses 
of  the  city.  As  an  attack  by  Hood  was  imminent, 
the  Colonel  proceeded  without  loss  of  time  to 
prepare  for  it.  He  erected  a  breastwork  cover 
ing  the  entire  front  of  his  line.  It  became  neces 
sary,  in  course  of  the  work,  to  cut  across  the  yard 
of  Judge  Trimble,  just  outside  that  gentleman's 
kitchen.  As  the  Judge  was  vacating  his  house 
Colonel  Harrison  waited  upon  him  to  express  re 
grets ;  but  the  other  took  him  into  his  library, 
and,  opening  a  drawer,  pulled  out  a  very  hand 
some  bunting  flag.  "Have  you  a  garrison  flag?" 
he  asked.  The  Colonel  replied  that  he  had  not. 
"  Then  let  me  present  you  with  this  one.  I  have 
never  been  without  the  American  flag  in  my 
house."  And  proceeding,  he  added,  "  Colonel,  if 
it  is  necessary  for  the  defense  of  Nashville,  take 
the  bottom  brick  in  my  house."  Of  that  speech 
the  Colonel  remarked  to  the  writer  enthusias- 
15 


226  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

tically,  "  Well,  I  fought  like  a  tiger  for  that  man's 
land." 

The  days  following  were  stirring  enough.  For, 
amongst  other  peculiarities,  Steadman  was  never 
satisfied  unless  the  enemy  were  stirred  up  every 
morning,  and  everything  within  eyesight  sounded 
to  know  what  it  was. 

While  thus  occupied,  Harrison  had  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  observe  the  colored  troops.  On 
one  occasion  Colonel  T.  J.  Morgan,  now  living  at 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  took  his  brigade  com 
posed  entirely  of  negroes,  deployed  them  as 
skirmishers,  and,  pushing  them  forward,  drove  the 
rebels  out  of  their  pits  ;  by  bugle  call  he  brought 
them  back  with  many  prisoners.  Their  skill  and 
courage  made  the  affair  a  perfect  demonstration. 
General  Cruft  used  to  tell  a  story  of  them. 

A  colored  soldier  one  day  brought  in  a  white 
prisoner,  and  being  interrogated,  he  told  the  story 
of  the  capture.  He  said  : 

"  I  just  cum  up  on  him,  and  brought  down  my 
gun  arter  this  like,  and  he  knowed  what  it  meant ; 
he  say, 

"  'Say,  now,  I  can't  surrender  to  a  nigger.  Dad 
would  kill  me  when  I  go  home ;  but  you  go  back 
to  de  camp,  and  git  a  white  sojer,  and  .bring  him 
out  hyar,  and  I'll  surrender  to  him.' 

"'No/  I  says,  ''scuse  me;  I'se  in  a  dre'ful 
hurry;  jess  come  'long.'  And  thar  he  is"  (point 
ing  to  the  prisoner)  ;  "I  fotched  him." 


THE    SOLDIER.  227 

While  the  enemy  was  before  the  city,  the  very 
morning  Thomas  was  to  have  moved  out  to  attack 
him,  a  storm  of  snow  and  sleet  came  on.  The 
earth  turned  to  a  sheet  of  ice,  and  remained  so 
.  for  some  days.  The  suffering-  of  the  soldiery  was 
intense  ;  some  of  them  actually  died  on  the  picket 
lines,  and  a  great  many  were  so  bitten  with  frost 
that  they  never  recovered.  It  is  of  this  bitter 
spell  that  Mr.  Richard  M.  Smock,  of  Indianapolis, 
tells  his  story, 

"We  -were  encamped  near  Nashville,  and  as  all 
who  were  there  at  the  time  remember,  it  was  one 
of  the  coldest  winters  on  record.  I  remember 
that  during  one  of  the  cold  nights  I  was  on  ticket, 
and  I  saw  a  man  approaching  from  the  direction 
of  the  officers'  quarters.  L  halted  him,  and  when 
he  gave  the  countersign  and  advanced,  I  saw  it 
was  General  (then  Colonel)  Harrison.  He  had 
a  large  can  filled  with  hot  coffee,  and  when  I  asked 
him  what  he  was  doing,  he  said  he  was  afraid  that 
some  of  the  pickets  would  freeze  to  death,  and  he 
knew  some  hot  coffee  would  help  the  men  to  keep 
alive.  He  was  the  most  welcome  visitor  I  ever 
met,  for  I  really  believe  I  would  have  frozen  be 
fore  morning  had  not  the  coffee  been  brought. 
After  leaving  me,  the  General  passed  on  to  all  the 
other  pickets  to  cheer  them  up  with  the  beverage. 
His  act  was  one  of  kindness.  The  men  on  duty 
were  nearly  all  from  his  regiment,  and  his  personal 
friendship  for  them  induced  him  to  get  up  out  of 


228  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

his  comfortable  quarters  at  dead  of  night,  prepare 
that  coffee  and  brino-  it  to  us." 

o 

General  Grant  in  the  East  did  not  seem  to  ap 
preciate  the  condition.  To  move  artillery  and 
cavalry  was  simply  impossible.  Instantly  that  the 
weather  moderated,  however,  General  Thomas 
put  his  army  in  motion.  Harrison  was  in  reserve, 
and  as  the  battle  was  a  splendid  success  from  the 
beginning,  he  was  but  little  engaged.  After  the 
fight  the  reserves  were  sent  in  pursuit. 

With  a  view  to  reaching  the  Tennessee  river 
before  Hood,  and  cutting  his  pontoons  and  other 
wise  intercepting  his  retreat,  Colonel  Harrison  was 
ordered  to  march  to  Murfreesboro,  and  there  take 
trains  and  push  forward  with  the  utmost  speed. 
He  entered  upon  the*  duty  with  alacrity.  From 
Murfreesboro  southward  the  Confederates  had 
burned  all  the  wood  piles  and  destroyed  the  water 
tanks.  The  delay  thus  caused  was  serious.  An 
idea  of  the  difficulties  encountered  maybe  formed 
from  the  resorts  to  which  the  pursuers  were 
driven.  Details  of  ax-men  chopped  up  rails  to 
feed  the  engine;  at  the  creeks  buckets  were  used 
to  fill  the  tanks  with  water.  Huntsville  was  at 
last  reached.  Then  to  gain  the  Tennessee  river 
where  boats  were  in  waiting  to  ferry  the  column 
over  it  was  necessary  to  take  to  the  roads,  which 
were  often  bottomless  with  mud.  The  streams 
had  all  to  be  crossed  by  wading.  At  the  river  the 
other  side  was  found  in  possession  of  the  rebels. 


THE    SOLDIER. 

The  crossing  was  effected  in  face  of  a  hostile  bat 
tery,  after  which  the  pursuit  was  continued  to 
Decatur,  and  as  far  down  as  Courtland,  Alabama. 
The  cavalry  below  the  former  place  succeeded  in 
striking  Hood's  pontoon  bridge  and  the  rear  of 
his  army ;  but  the  infantry  never  caught  sight  of 
him.  Thus  furnishing  another  example  of  the 
futility  of  sending  footmen  to  overtake  horsemen. 

Upon  the  recall  of  the  pursuing  column  Colonel 
Harrison  was  ordered  to  report  to  General  Sher 
man  at  Savannah.  And  while  en  route  to  New 
York  he  was  taken  down  with  scarlet  fever. 
After  several  weeks  of  dangerous  illness,  over  the 
objections  of  his  physicians  he  took  steamer  for 
Savannah. 

In  the  meantime  Sherman  had  proceeded  on 
his  way  and  was  up  in  the  Carolinas  when  Harri 
son  reached  Hilton  Head.  At  Pocotaligo  the 
latter  was  put  in  command  of  a  brigade  with 
which  he  soon  joined  Sherman  at  Goldsboro. 
There  he  resumed  command  of  his  old  brigade 
of  the  3d  Division  of  the  2Oth  Army  Corps. 
There  also  he  heard  of  the  assassination  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln.  Intelligence  of  the  disclaimer  of 
Sherman's  negotiations  with  Johnston  threw  the 
army  into  yet  greater  excitement,  and  before 
Grant  arrived  at  Goldsboro  the  truce  agreed  upon 
with  Johnston  having  expired,  Sherman  started  to 
attack  him.  With  that  object  he  made  one  day'-s 
march.  Fortunately  Grant  effected  a  new  arrange- 


230  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

ment  with  Johnston  and  the  contemplated  battle 
was  not  fought.  The  army  was  then  directed  upon 
Washington.  At  Richmond  it  was  halted  for  sev 
eral  days  and  preparations  made  for  a  review  by 
General  Hancock.  Sherman,  however,  came  up 
and  declared  the  ceremony  off.  So  that,  as  the 
corps  went  through  Richmond  they  marched  with 
arms  at  a  right  shoulder  shift,  without  saluting 
anything  but  the  American  flag  and  the  statue  of 
George  Washington. 

At  Washington  Colonel  Harrison  and  his  com 
mand  were  put  in  camp  near  Bladensburg,  whence 
they  took  part  in  the  grand  review  which  is  the 
final  reminiscence  of  the  great  rebellion. 

Meantime  Colonel  Harrison  received  a  pro 
motion.  The  rank  of  Brigadier-General  by  brevet 
was  conferred  upon  him.  The  commission  is 
signed  by  Abraham  Lincoln  and  countersigned 
by  E.  W.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War.  It  is  dated 
March  22,  1865,  and  states  that  it  was  given  "  for 
ability  and  manifest  energy  and  gallantry  in  com 
mand  of  the  brigade,"  and  also  that  he  was  to 
rank  as  such  Brevet  Brigadier-General  from  the 
23d  day  of  January  of  the  year  mentioned.  The 
certificate  of  discharge  shows  a  muster  out  of  the 
service  of  "  Benjamin  Harrison,  Colonel  and 
Brevet  Brigadier-General,  7oth  Regiment  of  In 
diana  Infantry  Volunteers ;  that  he  was  enrolled 
on  the  7th  day  of  August,  1862,  to  serve  three 
years  or»  during  the  war,  and  discharged  on  the 


THE    SOLDIER.  23! 

8th  day  of  June,  1865,  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  by 
reason  of  General  Order  77,  Adjutant-General's 
office,  1865,  and  instructions,  Adjutant-General's 
office,  May  20,  1865." 

Throughout  the  foregoing  narrative  of  General 
Harrison's  military  services   the  writer  has  pur 
posely  refrained  from  expressions  of  opinion  re 
specting    them;     it    was    greatly    preferable,    he 
thought,  to  present  the  circumstances,  and  leave 
the  reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusions  from  them. 
Probably  no  people  in  the  world  know  better  than 
Americans  the  qualities  that  enter  into  the  com 
position  of  a  soldier;    none   admire   more   such 
characteristics  as  courage,  enterprise,  persistence 
and  judgment,  without  which,  by  universal  agree 
ment,   there   can  be   no  perfect  officer.     But  as 
every  distinguished  military  man,  like  every  dis 
tinguished  citizen,  has  a  personality,  it  is  thought 
the  following  anecdotes  may  be  as  useful  as  they 
are  interesting.    Each  of  them,  it  will  be  observed, 
is  referable  to  a  person  of  known  respectability ; 
under  them  all  lie  glimpses  of  that  part  of  a  man 
not  possible  of  clearer  definition  than  his  moral 
qualities.     Under  a  rough  exterior  there  may  be 
a  tender  soul;   on  the  other  hand,  mildness  of 
manner  is  often  a  disguise.     How  shall  we  know 
our  nearest  neighbor  except  by  what  he  does  ? 

Mr.  Richard  M.  Smock,  from  whom  we  have 
the  instance  already  related  of  Harrison's  carrying 
coffee  to  his  men  on  picket,  says  further:  "I  re- 


232  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

member  that  on  the  i4th  of  May,  the  day  before 
the  battle  of  Resaca,  our  regiment  was  ordered  to 
advance  through  a  strip  of  woodland  which  ended 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill.  On  the  brow  of  an  opposite 
hill  were  the  rebels,  and  the  position  we  were 
ordered  to  take  put  us  in  direct  range  of  their 
guns.  We  were  subjected  to  a  terrific  fire,  and 
as  we  could  see  no  reason  why  we  should  occupy 
such  an  exposed  position,  many  of  us  wanted  to 
fall  back.  General  Harrison  was  with  us,  on  foot, 
at  the  head  of  the  column,  and  he  said  we  would 
obey  orders  and  stay  there,  if  we  died.  Our  ranks 
were  thinned  by  the  bullets  of  the  enemy,  but  we 
held  our  position,  and  General  Harrison  never 
left  his  advanced  post." 

Ex-County-Clerk  M.  G.  McLain,  a  well-known 
soldier  who  lost  his  right  arm  at  Resaca  while 
following  General  Harrison's  lead,  says  of  him : 
"  No  man  was  dearer  to  the  boys  in  the  line  than 
General  ^Harrison,  and  it  rose  from  one  single 
element  in  the  man's  character — his  determination 
to  take  the  leading  part  in  whatever  he  asked  his 
men  to  do.  I  shall  never  forget  the  sight  I  had 
of  him  waving  his  sword  and  shouting  in  that 
shrill  voice  for  which  he  was  noted :  4  Come  on, 
boys!'  Continuing,  he  said:  "One  scene  has 
always  lived  in  my  memory.  Our  old  Chaplain, 
Allen,  a  man  who  was  beloved  by  all  the  boys,  and 
for  whom  almost  every  man  in  the  regiment 
would  have  lost  his  life,  conducted  services  on 


THE    SOLDIER.  233 

Sunday,  with  General  Harrison,  then  Colonel,  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Sam  Merrill  assisting.  I  have 
often  heard  General  Harrison  offer  up  the  prayer 
for  the  boys'  welfare  and  protection  down  there 
on  those  Southern  fields,  so  far  away  from  home, 
and  many  times  have  heard  him  address  the  boys 
in  place  of  the  chaplain.  Never  to  my  knowl 
edge,  in  all  the  trying  times  of  war,  did  I  see  one 
thing  from  him  unbecoming  a  Christian.  I  think 
the  battle-field  and  the  camp  bring  out  what  there 
is  in  a  man  about  as  well  as  anything  can,  and  I 
have  seen  General  Harrison  tested  in  every  way. 
As  a  soldier,  courageous,  sympathetic  and  endur 
ing,  the  army  had  no  better." 

Being  asked  about  him  as  a  disciplinarian  Mr. 
McLain  added  :  "  Going  out  as  he  did,  a  civilian, 
and  without  any  military  training  whatever,  he 
became  one  of  the  closest  students  of  the  science 
and  art  of  war  there  was  in  the  army.  As  he  does 
in  everything  else,  he  threw  his  whole  heart  into 
the  work  of  making  himself  a  proficient  officer 
and  his  regiment  a  well-disciplined  body  of  men. 
And  he  succeeded  in  an  eminent  degree  in  both 
instances.  He  was  a  very  sympathetic  man. 
Whenever  a  soldier  was  hurt  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty  none  was  readier  to  offer  sympathy  than 
he.  And  as  a  result  of  this  trait  of  his  character, 
he  always  looked  after  the  welfare  of  his  regiment 
with  scrupulous  care.  He  never  went  to  bed  at 
night  without  knowing  that  the  boys  were  going 


234  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

to  have  as  good  a  breakfast  as  could  be  secured 
in  the  morning.  You  may  rest  assured  that  these 
were  favors  that  were  appreciated." 

William  H.  Cooper,  of  Minor  &  Cooper,  grain 
dealers,  Indianapolis,  telling  of  General  Harrison 
at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  says:  "On  the  Atlanta 
campaign  Harrison's  regiment  one  day  crossed  a 
small  bridge  over  a  sluggish  stream  and  advanced 
through  an  open  field  toward  a  neighboring  crest. 
While  they  were  in  the  field  the  pickets  just  over 
the  hill  came  flying  back,  being  driven  in  by  the 
advance  of  the  rebels  in  force.  Harrison's  regi 
ment,  and  the  others  making  up  the  brigade, 
pressed  rapidly  up  toward  the  crest,  and  when 
they  reached  the  top  they  met  the  enemy  face  to 
face.  It  was  a  fierce  struggle  to  see  who  could 
hold  the  commanding  position,  and  the  fight  be 
came  fierce  and  bloody,  a  hand-to-hand  encounter 
in  which  soldiers  on  each  side  thrust  bayonets  and 
clubbed  each  other  with  muskets.  In  the  midst 
of  this  I  was  sent  back  by  the  captain  of  my  com 
pany  to  bring  up  a  load  of  ammunition,  the  wagons 
being  five  or  six  hundred  feet  back  towards  the 
bridge.  With  me  was  Charley  Jenkins,  who  now 
resides  here.  We  went  back,  secured  the  ammu 
nition,  and  were  slowly  toiling  toward  the  front 
with  the  heavy  load.  Just  at  that  time  the  rebels 
captured  a  battery  on  the  Union  right,  and  turned 
the  guns  on  our  men.  It  looked  like  disaster,  in 
deed,  and  doubly  so  because  the  mule  trains,  close 


THE    SOLDIER.  235 

in  the  rear  of  the  troops,  were  filling  up  the  road 
and  clogging  the  bridge  in  a  way  that  made  a 
stampede  imminent.  Just  then  I  saw  General 
Harrison  riding  up  and  down  right  in  front  of  the 
line,  waving  his  sword  and  calling  on  the  boys  to 
stand-  their  ground.  Nothing  but  such  an  ex 
ample  on  the  part  of  the  commander  could  have 
held  the  troops.  They  retook  their  battery,  and 
prevented  what  looked*  at  one  time  to  be  disaster 
and  complete  ruin." 

Mr.  Cooper  also  states  that  "While  sick  in  the 
hospital  •  at  Gallatin,  Tenn.,  General  Harrison 
came  and  called  on  me,  and  in  a  few  days,  to  my 
surprise,  secured  me  a  furlough  and  had  me 
sent  home.  This  was  only  one  of  many  acts  of 
kindness  he  was  constantly  doing  for  his  men. 
No  officer  in  the  service  was  more  thoughtful 
and  considerate  of  his  troops  than  General  Har 
rison." 

Captain  P.  S.  Carson,  of  Southport,  Ind.,  who 
commanded  Company  G,  of  the  yoth  Indiana 
Regiment,  in  the  battle  of  Resaca,  relates  an  inci 
dent  of  that  fearful  day :  "  The  battle  had  closed, 
leaving  Company  G  in  possession  of  a  captured 
battery,  taken  in  the  charge  which  the  7oth  led, 
and  the  report  had  gone  back  to  headquarters 
that  of  the  five  killed  in  the  company  I  was  one, 
and  of  the  twenty-two  wounded  that  Dan  Rans- 
dell  and  Mose  McLain  were  among  the  number. 
These  men  were  personal  friends  of  General  Har- 


236  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

rison,  and  he  was  greatly  moved  when  the  sad 
news  came  to  him.  Later  in  the  evening  he 
learned  that  I  was  unhurt,  and  he  sent  to  me  to 
come  to  headquarters.  I  went,  and  was  met  by 
General  Harrison,  who,  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
shook  my  hand  and  congratulated  me  on  my 
escape,  and  tenderly  inquired  after  the  individual 
men  in  my  company  who  were  wounded.  In 
every  way  possible  he  showed  the  deepest  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  my  soldiers.  Hence  I  have 
always  regarded  him  as  a  very  sympathetic  man. 
As  a  commander  he  was  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
but  he  was  always  just ;  and  this  trait  of  character, 
together  with  his  great  bravery,  made  him  a  great 
favorite  with  all  under  him." 

General  John  Coburn,  of  whom  mention  has 
been  repeatedly  made,  speaking  of  General  Har 
rison  at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  says:  "  Line  after  line 
of  rebels  came  over  the  ridge  toward  us.  On 
the  left  of  my  brigade  they  met  with  no  resist 
ance  until  I  rode  to  Colonel  Woods  and  asked  him 
to  advance,  which  he  did,  losing  very  heavily  and 
filling  up  the  gap  towards  the  4th  Corps.  About 
this  time  Harrison  and  his  men  on  our  right  rose 
up,  and  charged  up  hill  with  terrific  power.  My 
brigade  was  not  slow  to  get  up  and  rush  forward. 
The  rebels  came  down  hill  into  and  through  our 
ranks  pell-mell,  dropping  their  arms  and  surren 
dering.  Woods  continued  his  advance  on  the 
left,  and  soon  the  ridge  was  ours.  Harrison  was 


THE    SOLDIER.  237 

the  personification  of  fiery  valor,  with  voice  and 
gesture  urging  on  the  furious  charge.  We  could 
see  the  divisions  on  our- right  and  left  giving  way 
in  apparent  confusion  ;  a  regiment  was  surprised 
on  the  right  with  their  arms  in  the  stack  ;  a  bat 
tery  was  captured,  and,  on  the  left,  a  host  of 
fugitives  scattered  toward  the  rear.  But  our  ad 
vance  seemed  to  give  them  encouragement — they 
rallied  and  retook  their  lines.  Our  soldiers  all 
got  a  supply  of  new  Enfield  rifles  on  the  field ; 
the  gun-straps  were  not  soiled.  I  never  saw  on 
any  battle-field  dead  and  wounded  in  such  num 
bers  and  so  close  together.  It  yas  a  complete 
surprise  to  us  all.  Hood  had  just  that  day  taken 
command  with  orders  to  fight,  and  fight  at  once 
and  all  the  time.  Johnston,  by  his  caution,  had 
made  us  careless.  We  were  not  looking  for  such 
a  mad  rush.  No  man  in  the  army  that  night 
stood  higher  than  Harrison  for  heroism.  Had  he 
been  a  West  Pointer  his  promotion  would  have 
been  ordered  by  telegraph." 

Mr.  Daniel  Watts,  of  Oregon  City,  was  in  the 
same  brigade  with  General  Harrison,  and  says  of 
him:  "You  want  to  know  about  Harrison's  career 
as  a  soldier?  Well,  I  belonged  to  Company  A 
of  the  1 2Qth  Illinois,  under  Colonel  Case,  and  our 
regiment  was  stationed  in  the  spring  of  1864  near 
Chattanooga,  and  with  the  io5th  and  the  iO2d 
Illinois,  the  79th  Ohio,  and  the  7oth  Indiana,  con 
stituted  the  ist  Brigade  of  the  3d  Division  of  the 


238  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

20th  Army  Corps,  with  General  Ward,  of  Ken 
tucky,  as  brigade  commander.  Harrison  was 
colonel  of  the  7<Dth  Indiana,  and  Fighting  Joe 
Hooker  had  command  of  the  Corps.  In  May  we 
were  encamped  in  a  broken  and  hilly  country. 
On  Saturday  the  4th  Corps  attacked  a  battery 
commanding  the  line  of  march  that  Sherman 
wished  to  make  to  Atlanta,  and  was  repulsed. 
The  following  day  the  ist  Brigade,  to  which  I  be 
longed,  was  moved  arotind  into  Snake  Run  gap 
to  the  side  of  a  mountain,  where  we  unslung 
knapsacks.  On  the  mountain  was  the  masked 
battery  of  four  guns,  before  which,  in  intrench- 
ments,  lay  the  enemy  in  force,  completely  pro 
tected  by  their  fortifications.  General  Ward  gave 
the  order  to  '  fix  bayonets  and  charge.'  As  we 
marched  up,  five  regiments  strong,  with  fixed 
bayonets,  the  balls  were  so  thick  that  I  can  com 
pare  them  to  nothing  but  a  swarm  of  bees  when 
they  dive  at  you.  Straight  up  hill  we  rushed  with 
an  Indian  war-whoop,  over  the  works  and  up  to 
the  guns  without  firing  a  shot.  As  the  foremost 
man  reached  the  battery  one  of  the  gunners  was 
on  the  point  of  touching  the  match  to  a  gun  when 
he  was  run  through  with  a  bayonet  by  a  soldier 
of  the  iO2d  Illinois  and  forced  to  the  ground.  So 
thick  were  we  hemmed  in  by  the  gap  that  the 
discharge  of  that  gun  would  probably  have  killed 
500  of  our  men.  This  shows  the  cool  bravery  of 
those  engaged  on  both  sides.  When  we  went 


THE    SOLDIER.  239 

into  the  fort  Colonel  Harrison  and  Colonel  Case 
of  my  own  regiment  went  into  the  works  with  us. 
In  taking  the  gap  the  brigade  had  pushed  ahead 
of  the.body  of  the  troops,  and  the  Johnnies  were 
enabled  to  surround  the  fort  and  hem  us  in,  and 
they  tried  for  hours  to  retake  the  battery.  When 
Hooker  saw  the  troops  in  that  advanced  position 
he  said :  '  There's  a  brigade  gone  to  hell ! '  but 
from  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  till  after  mid 
night  the  colonels,  in  charge  of  the  regiments  and 
fighting  with  the  soldiers,  held  the  works  against 
repeated  desperate  charges  by  the  rebels.  At 
2  A.  M.  the  Union  line  was  advanced  far  enough 
to  drive  the  enemy  back,  and  in  the  morning  the 
rebels  were  gone.  Whilst  in  the  fort  we  had  to 
hug  the  fortifications  mighty  close,  I  tell  you,  for 
the  bullets  were  as  thick  as  hail.  And  when  the 
Johnnies  got-  too  close,  we  would  rise  and  give 
them  a  volley  which  would  repulse  them,  then 
we  would  drop  behind  the  breastwork.  When 
the  rebels  saw  they  could  not  drive  us  from  our 
position  they  fired  the  woods  .through  which  we 
had  forced  our  way,  and  where  the  dead  and 
wounded  of  both  forces  lay,  burning  over  the  field 
of  battle  where  lay  so  many  suffering  men.  My 
companion  was  shot  from  my  side,  and  as  he 
dropped  I  turned  to  him,  but  he  said,  'Go  on; 
don't  stop  for  me,'  and  I  passed  along.  The  next 
day  I  found  him  with  the  clothes  all  burned  off  and 
the  flesh  of  one  side  all  roasted,  and  in  places 


240  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

crisp  to  the  bone.  It  was  a  terrible  sight,  you 
may  be  sure.  We  were  left  to  bury  the  dead  of 
both  sides. 

"  On  the  2Oth,  at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  we  had 
been  manoeuvring  about  in  the  valley  during  the 
forenoon,  without  knowing  the  object  of  our  move 
ments.  At  noon  we  stacked  our  arms,  put  out  a 
skirmish  line,  and  were  busy  at  dinner,  when  we 
heard  firing  on  the  skirmish  line,  and  their  shouts 
for  us  to  come  on.  Looking  up,  we  saw  them 
waving  their  caps  for  us  to  hasten.  Springing  to 
our  arms,  we  rushed  to  their  assistance,  getting 
ready  as  we  ran.  I  did  not  get  my  belt  buckled 
till  we  were  into  the  fight.  The  skirmish  line 
joined  our  ranks,  though  not  obliged  to  do  so, 
and  up  the  side  of  the  hill  we  went.  As  we  swung 
into  an  advanced  position,  through  an  opening  in 
the  trees  we  could  see  the  rebs  lying  thick  behind 
a  rail-fence.  Our  regiment  charged  on  their  line 

£5  O 

and  cleaned  it  out,  but  we  lost  250  men  in  half  an 
hour,  so  you  may  know  we  had  hot  work.  In  this 
fight  Harrison,  still  a  colonel,  took  the  lead.  As 
he  swuncr  himself  into  line  not  six  feet  from  me 

o 

he  said :  '  Come  on,  boys ;  we've  never  been 
licked  yet,  and  we  won't  begin  now.  We  haven't 
much  ammunition,  but  if  necessary  we  can  give 
them  the  cold  steel,  and  before  we  get  licked  we 
will  club  them  down  ;  so,  come  on.'  And  we  went, 
glad  to  fight  by  the  side  of  '  Little  Ben,'  who 
shirked  nothing,  and  took  just  the  same  chance 


THE    SOLDIER.  24! 

of  getting  a  bullet  through  the  heart  as  we  did. 
Not  a  soldier  but  liked  Ben  Harrison.  Well,  we 
won  the  day  after  a  hard  fight.  For  his  bravery 
on  that  day  Harrison  was  promoted  at  the  special 
recommendation  of  General  Hooker.  But  his 
promotion  made  no  difference  in  the  man.  He 
was  always  the  same."  The  foregoing  is  ex 
tracted  from  the  Oregon  City  Enterprise. 

Fred  Hummel,  who  is  a  resident  of  Deca- 
tur,  Ala.,  and  formerly  a  soldier  of  the  79th 
Ohio,  which  was  of  General  Harrison's  brigade, 
writing  of  his  old  commander,  says :  "  I  believe 
it  was  twenty-four  years  ago  that  Dr.  Jones 
and  myself  found  him  alone  taking  care  of  the 
poor  wounded  boys  of  his  regiment  that  suf 
fered  so  severely  that  day.  With  his  coat  off, 
and  sleeves  rolled  up,  he  worked  far  after  mid 
night,  until  every  wounded  man  was  attended  to. 
This  humane  act  of  his  will  perhaps  never  be 
written  in  history,  but  it  made  a  lifelong  impres 
sion  on  my  mind  of  his  superior  goodness  and 
humanity,  seldom  found  in  men  of  his  position 
and  rank.  God  bless  him." 

The  following,  from  the  Boston  Transcript,  is 
from  Rev.  Edmund  Muse,  a  Southern  loyalist  who 
was  in  the  army  with  Harrison,  though  not  in  his 
command  :  "  Harrison  was  celebrated  amoncr  the 

o 

officers  of  Sherman's  army  for  his  earnest  relig 
ious  nature.  He  had  prayers  in  his  teat  at  night 
and  was  a  sincere  Christian  man." 

16 


242  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Colonel  Samuel  Merrill,  of  Indianapolis,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  of  the  yoth  Regiment,  now  living  in 
Indianapolis,  says  of  him:  "In  the  march  he  was 
merciful,  protesting  against  unnecessary  haste. 
Frequently  he  would  take  the  guns  and  accoutre 
ments  of  some  poor  worn-out  fellows  and  carry 
them  before  him  on  the  saddle.  Often  I  have 
seen  him  dismount  and  walk,  while  a  sick  soldier 
occupied  his  place  on  the  horse.  Those  who  were 
ill  in  the  field  hospital  testify  that  they  were  not 
forgotten  by  their  kind  commander,  but  that  he 
was  deeply  interested  in  their  recovery,  constantly 
making  inquiries  as  to  their  welfare  and  sugges 
tions  for  their  comfort.  He  protected  the  private 
soldier  from  imposition  by  those  in  authority,  as  a 
father  would  his  own  children.  Once  when  we 
had  been  cut  off  from  our  supplies  for  a  long 
time  the  men  became  so  ragged  that  it  was  piti 
ful  to  see  them.  At  last  a  partial  stock  was  re 
ceived  by  the  quartermaster.  Some  of  the  offi 
cers  appropriated  the  pantaloons  to  their  own  use. 
As  soon  as  this  was  known  General  Harrison 
compelled  these  lordly  fellows  to  strip  and  turn 
the  clothing  over  to  the  rightful  owners.  If  at 
any  time  he  felt  that  he  had  wronged  one,  his 
sense  of  justice  gave  him  no  rest  until  he  had  re 
paired  the  injury.  He  did  not  have  a  code  of 
morals  to  be  observed  at  home  and  neglected 
abroad,  but  there  was  the  same  purity  of  conduct 
and  conversation  while  a  soldier  in  the  field  as 


THE    SOLDIER.  243 

when  a  citizen  going  through  the  daily  round  of 
duties." 

Captain  H.  A.  Ford,  according  to  the  Detroit 
Tribune,  says  of  Harrison  :  "  I  came  to  know  him 
well.  Indeed,  I  was  indebted  to  his  kind  offices 
for  the  most  interesting  military  association  I  had 
as  adjutant  and  chief  of  staff  to  the  celebrated 
Irish  refugee,  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher. 
Harrison  was  a-  thoroughly  kind  and  good  man, 
very  popular  with  his  command  and  a  very  large 
army  acquaintance.  He  was  an  able  and  cour 
ageous  officer,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  his 
prompt,  well-directed  action  saved  the  day  at 
Peach  Tree  Creek  at  a  critical  moment  of  the  At 
lanta  campaign.  But  for  him  I  think  our  army  on 
that  field  would  have  been  cut  in  two,  and  at  least 
one  wing  of  it  rolled  up  and  badly  shattered. 
The  first  onset  fell  where  Harrison  was,  and  he, 
divining  at  once  the  character  of  the  attack  and 
the  need  of  immediate  resistance,  came  dashing 
down  the  hill  on  his  splendid  charger,  riding  down 
bodily  a  partly  barred  gate  as  he  flew,  and,  with 
out  an  instant's  hesitancy  for  orders,  moved  his 
brigade  to  the  top  of  a  short  but  sharp  slope,  at 
whose  foot  it  had  been  'halted,  and  forward  until 
the  enemy  was  met,  as  he  was  almost  at  once. 
Other  troops  connected  speedily  on  the  right  and 
left,  and  here  the  impetuous  rebel  advance  was 
stayed  once  for  all.  But  I  have  always  felt  that 
if  it  had  had  the  advantage  of  a  charge  down 


244  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

that  slope  upon  our  unprepared  lines  they  would 
have  been  driven  in  hopeless  disorder  into  and 
across  the  deep  stream  in  our  rear,  and  the  battle 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  lost.  Harri 
son  was  the  hero  of  Peach  Tree  Creek,  which 
made  him  a  brigadier.  He  was  the  senior  field 
officer  in  the  brigade  at  the  previous  battle  of 
Resaca,  bore  himself  gallantly  in  one  of  the  most 
desperate  and  deadly  charges  of  history,  that 
which  captured  the  redoubt  and  four  guns,  and 
took  command  of  the  forces  after  General  Ward 
had  been  wounded  and  retired  from  the  field." 

Mr.  Arthur  Deeter,  of  Terre  Haute,  carries  in 
his  body  several  buckshot  received  from  a  Con 
federate  gun.  The  Express  of  that  city  furnishes 
the  subjoined  statement  from  Mr.  Deeter:  "He 
(Deeter)  met  General  Harrison  immediately  after 
the  battle  of  Nashville.  He  was  lying  in  a  fence 
corner,  having  been  pierced  by  a  ball  from  the 
enemy.  An  officer  came  along,  and,  seeing  his 
condition,  gave  him  a  blanket  to  make  him  as 
comfortable  as  possible.  He  asked  him  how 
badly  he  was  hurt  and  Deeter  told  him.  The 
officer  said:  'Then  you  will  be  sent  to  the  hos 
pital  ;  you  will  need  some*money ;  here  are  twenty 
dollars,'  and  handed  over  the  money.  '  Who  are 
you  ? '  inquired  Deeter.  '  I  am  Ben  Harrison/ 
The  wounded  man  was  taken  to  the  hospital  and 
recovered.  Afterwards  he  participated  in  the  At 
lanta  campaign,  and  was  again  wounded.  He 


THE    SOLDIER.  245 

never  forgot  Harrison's  kindness.  He  was  in 
Indianapolis  a  few  years  ago,  and  went  into  Sena 
tor  Harrison's  office,  and  handed  him  over  twenty 
dollars,  and  said :  '  I  owe  you  twenty  dollars/ 
And  he  proceeded  to  narrate  the  circumstance 
that  occurred  at  Nashville.  Harrison  recalled  the 
incident,  and  warmly  greeted  him.  '  You  don't 
owe  me  a  cent ;  you  keep  the  money.  I  will  not 
have  it.  I  did  you  a  kindness,  and  I  have  been 
repaid  amply  by  seeing  you  still  alive/  said  die 
Senator.  The  conversation  was  at  once  changed 
to  war  reminiscences." 

Of  a  similar  character  is  the  following  narra 
tion  from  Andrew  A.  Buchanan,  formerly  a  ser 
geant  of  Company  A,  7oth  Regiment  Indiana 
Volunteer  Infantry:  "Seeing  the  report  of  Com 
rade  Deeter  in  the  Journal  of  the  i6th  instant, 
stating  that  General  Harrison  had  found  him  on 
the  field  of  battle  a  total  stranger,  but  a  seriously 
wounded,  suffering  comrade,  and  said  to  him, 
after  inquiring  about  his  wounds,  and  finding  he 
must  go  to  the  hospital,  'You  will  need  money; 
here  are  twenty  dollars,'  reminds  me  of  his  treat 
ment  of  my  brother,  James  M.  Buchanan,  who  was 
Captain  of  Company  D,  79th  Regiment  Indiana 
Volunteers,  who  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga.  I  was  notified  by  General  Harri 
son  (then  Colonel  Harrison)  of  my  brother's  con 
dition,  and  ordered  to  report  at  his  head-quarters. 
On  my  arrival,  while  only  a  sergeant,  yet  I  found 


246  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

he  had  onu  of  his  own  horses  saddled  and  bridled, 
that  I  might  go  to  rny  brother  at  once.  As  I  rode 
away,  he  said:  'Tell  the  captain  I  wont  be  long 
behind  you.'  I  had  only  reached  my  brother's 
bedside  when  Colonel  Harrison  and  Captain 
Harry  Scott,  our  captain,  arrived.  Colonel  Har 
rison  came  to  my  brother's  cot,  and  after  an 
earnest,  cordial  and  sympathetic  greeting  he  said: 
'  Captain,  you  are  badly  wounded,  and  must  get 
home.  You  have  been  at  the  front,  and,  of  course, 
have  no  money.  Here  are  a  hundred  dollars; 
take  it  and  get  home.'  This  money  enabled  my 
brother  to  reach  home  and  comfort.  ftAnd  yet 
there  are  men  who  say  that  General  Harrison  is 
cold  and  unsympathetic.  But,  thank  God,  we  who 
served  under  him  in  the  army,  and  witnessed  his 
indomitable  courage  in  battle,  and  his  constant, 
considerate  self-sacrificing  care  for  his  men,  know 
that  a  baser  falsehood  was  never  uttered." 

Other  testimony  to  the  same  effect  might  be  of 
fered  in  abundance.  But  it  is  thought  those  here 
furnished  are  amply  sufficient  to  satisfy  any 
reasonable  disinterested  gentleman  as  to  the 
points  they  severally  and  collectively  cover. 

With  them  we  pass  from  the  military  portion 
of  General  Harrison's  career 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    POLITICIAN. 

THE  best  evidence  of  genuine  popular  liberty 
is  the  existence  of  political  parties.  They  are  in 
fact  the  organized  expression  of  opinion  permis 
sible  only  in  a  state  of  freedom.  Some  years 
ago  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  called  to  Constantinople 
a  kind  of  States-General.  He  made  elaborate 
preparations  for  the  sessions.  Representative  of 
nobody,  the  members  met  by  his  irade  or  decree. 
Within  ten  days  they  began  to  talk  ;  in  the  third 
week  differences  of  opinion  were  developed ; 
about  the  end  of  the  first  month  he  sent  them  all 
home.  It  did  not  consist  with  his  government 
that  a  subject  should  think  aloud.  He  was  more 
than  the  majority  in  the  empire.  He  could  afford 
to  tolerate  but  one  speaker  and  one  party — him 
self. 

English  history  long  ago  established  that,  though 
the  utmost  freedom  may  prevail,  a  political  party 
cannot  be  manufactured,  like  a  barrel,  a  loom  or 
a  boat.  American  history  confirms  the  experience, 
and  more — we  now  know  that  such  a  party  can 
not  succeed  upon  a  question  of  morals  purely 
and  singly.  The  party  must  be  a  necessity  of 

(2471 


1*48  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

politics,  which  are  as  distinguishable  from  morals 
as  the  first  letter  of  the  alphabet  is  distinguisha 
ble  from  the  last.  This  is  not  saying  that  there 
should  not  be  good  morals  i  i  politics ;  it  is  say 
ing  that  political  parties  are  the  natural  output  of 
political  conditions. 

All  the  great  parties  known  to  American  his 
tory  prove  this — the  Federal,  the  Democratic,  the 
Whig,  the  Republican,  all  prote  it.  In  their  days 
almost  numberless  organizations  in  opposition  to 
them  singly  and  collectively  have  been  attempted  ; 
such,  amongst  others,  were  the  Anti-Whiskey 
party,  that  culminated  in  the  administration  of 
Washington,  the  Anti-Federation  party,  which  fell 
to  pieces  in  the  Hartford  Convention,  the  Anti- 
Masonic  party,  the  American  party,  the  Know* 
Nothing  party.  Each  died,  and  died  early,  in  in 
stances  because  there  was  but  the  beveled  edge 
of  a  plank  for  them  to  live  upon ;  more  plainly, 
because  there  was  no  necessity  for  them. 

Probably  the  very  finest  illustration  of  the  phi 
losophy  of  the  origin  of  political  parties  in  the 
United  States  is  furnished  by  the  Republican 
party.  The  idea  is  very  common  that  it  was  a 
graft  upon  the  stalk  of  the  Whig  party.  Few 
things  are  more  untrue.  Let  us  see. 

On  the  8th  day  of  August,  1846,  one  David 
Wilmot,  member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania, 
moved  a  proviso  to  a  pending  bill,  affirming  it 
"an  express  and  fundamental  condition  to  the 


THE    POLITICIAN.  249 

acquisition  of  any  territory  from  Mexico,  that 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall 
ever  exist  therein." 

This  was  the  entering  wedge  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  Both  the  Democratic  and 
Whig  parties  opposed  it  in  their  national  conven 
tions,  and  of  that  opposition  the  Whig  party  died 
effectually  and  forever.  The  Democratic  party 
survived  because  both  parties  in  the  South  united 
against  the  proviso.  The  "  Solid  South "  of 
to-day  is  absolutely  referable  to  that  union.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  North  divided  upon  the  issue. 
There  the  slavery  question  became  the  sole  ques 
tion.  Should  the  Territories  be  Free  or  Slave  ? 
Such  was  its  form.  Men  opposed  to  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery — Barnburners,  Anti-slavery  Whigs 
and  Democrats,  Abolitionists — refused  to  trust 
the  Whig  leaders  longer.  General  Taylor  was 
elected;  but  his  tomb  is  the  tomb  of  his  party. 
His  inaugural  recommendation  that  California  be 
admitted  with  her  free  Constitution  had  not 
enough  of  saving  grace  in  it.  The  South  grew 
more  solid  than  ever.  Compromises  only  inten 
sified  the  dispute.  In  1852  out  of  a  total  of  296 
electors  General  Scott,  the  Whig  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  received  but  42.  The  triumph 
of  the  Democracy  meant  the  extension  of  slavery. 

There  was  but  one  resort  to  stop  the  consum 
mation  of  the  crime — a  New  Party — -and  straight 
way  all  differences  were  smothered.  A  fusion 


250  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

took  place,  out  of  which — out  of  the  necessity  of 
the  hour,  the  necessity  of  saving  the  Territories 
to  Freedom — the  Republican  party  was  born. 

It  is  fair  to  observe  next  that,  contrary  to  a 
growing  idea,  the  Republican  party  did  not  pro 
pose  the  abolition  of  slavery,  in  the  sense  of  inter 
ference  with  it  in  the  States  of  which  it  was  then 
an  existing  institution.  With  a  just  appreciation 
of  the  necessity  calling  them  to  organize,  the  del 
egates  of  the  first  nominating  convention,  held 
at  Philadelphia  June  17,  1856,  Colonel  Henry  S. 
Lane,  of  Indiana,  presiding,  resolved,  "  that,  as 
our  republican  fathers,  when  they  had  abolished 
slavery  in  all  our  national  territory,  ordained  that 
no  person  should  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or 
property,  without  due  process  of  law,  it  becomes 
our  duty  to  maintain  this  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution  against  a!!  attempts  to  violate  it,  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  slavery  in  any  Territory 
of  the  United  States,  by  posici/e  legislation,  pro 
hibiting  its  existence  and  extension  therein.  That 
wo  deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  Territo 
rial  Legislature,  of  any  individual  or  association 
of  individuals,  to  give  legal  existence  to  Slavery 
in  any  Territory  of  the  United  States,  while  the 
present  Constitution  shall  be  maintained." 

They  also  resolved,  "That  the  Constitution  con 
fers  upon  Congress  sovereign  power  over  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States  lor  their  govern 
ment;  and  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  it 


THE    POLITICIAN.  .      251 

is  both  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
prohibit  in  the  Territories  those  twin  relics  of 
barbarism — Polygamy  and  Slavery." 

That  Abolitionists  took  part  in  the  Philadelphia 
convention  is  undeniable,  but  that  the  party  then 
and  there  representatively  assembled  was  an 
Abolition  party  is  equally  untrue.  Its  design  \vas 
the  prevention  of  Slavery  in  the  Territories,  not 
its  abolition  in  the  States  already  Slave. 

The  Second  National  Republican  Convention 
for  nomination  assembled  at  Chicago,  111.,  May 
1 6,  1860.  The  party  had  by  that  time  advanced 
from  its  experimental  condition,  wherefore  the 
first  clause  of  its  platform — "That  the  history  of 
the  nation,  during  the  last  four  years,  has  fully 
established  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the  or 
ganization  and  perpetuation  of  the  Republican 
party;  and  that  the  causes  which  called  it  into  exist 
ence  are  permanent  in  their  nature,  and  now, 
more  than  ever  before,  demand  its  peaceful  and 
constitutional  triumph." 

In  those  four  years  a  new  necessity  for  the 
Republican  party  had  arisen.  The  Democratic 
party  hastened  in  1846  to  maintain  the  Southern 
assertion  that  the  Territories  belonged  to  all  the 
States,  and  that  by  virtue  of  that  right  owners  of 
slaves  from  the  slave  States  had  a  constitutional 
right  to  remove  with  their  slaves  to  the  Terri 
tories,  and  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
property  therein.  This  declaration  of  principle 


252  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

by  the  leading  Democratic  Convention  of  1860 
(held  at  the  Maryland  Institute,  Baltimore,  June 
28th),  perfected  the  joinder  of  issue  between  the 
Republican  party  and  the  Democratic  party. 

The  Popular  Sovereignty  doctrine  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  of  Illinois,  had  been  already  done  to 
death  by  the  passage  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  of  the  famous  resolution — "That  neither 
Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature,  whether 
by  direct  legislation  or  legislation  of  an  indirect 
and  unfriendly  character,  possesses  power  to  an 
nul  or  impair  the  constitutional  right  of  any  citizen 
of  the  United  States  to  take  his  slave  property 
into  the  common  Territories,  and  there  hold  and 
enjoy  the  same  while  the  territorial  condition 
remains." 

The  resolution  derived  effect  from  its  passage 
by  a  majority  of  thirty-five  yeas  to  twenty-one 
nays,  all  the  Democratic  senators  present  voting 
for  it  but  one. 

The  new  necessity  for  the  Republican  party  is 
presented  in  the  third  clause  of  the  platform 
adopted  at  the  Chicago  Convention  :  "  3.  That 
to  the  Union  of  the  States  this  nation  owes  its 
unprecedented  increase  in  population,  its  surpris 
ing  development  of  material  resources,  its  rapid 
augmentation  in  wealth,  its  happiness  at  home, 
and  its  honor  abroad  ;  and  we  hold  in  abhorrence 
all  schemes  for  Disunion,  come  from  whatever 
source  they  may." 


THE    POLITICIAN.  253 

The  result  was  that,  as  early  as  1860,  the  eighth 
year  of  its  existence  as  an  organization,  the  Re 
publican  party  was  the  champion  of  the  Union  as 
against  all  comers  whatsoever.  On  the  flag  it 
bore  in  the  canvass  of  1860  was  the  double 
inscription — FREE  TERRITORIES  AND  THE  UNION. 
And  Abraham  Lincoln  was  chosen  President  to 
execute  those  principles,  then  distinctively  Re 
publican.  Be  it  remembered  also  that  as  prin 
ciples,  they  had  one  chief  opponent — the  Demo 
cratic  party.  And,  in  the  way  of  special  application, 
be  it  further  remembered  that,  in  common  with 
the  National  soldiery,  constituting  the  noblest 
army  the  world  ever  saw,  in  arms  the  most 
capable,  to  principle  the  most  devoted,  the  mili 
tary  services  of  Benjamin  Harrison  which  we 
have  tried  to  describe  were  rendered. 

Continuing  the  history — 

Secession  followed  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  the  Presidency — then  a  distinctive  Southern 
government — then  war.  And  the  Union  would 
certainly  have  been  destroyed  but  for  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  the  Republican  party. 

It  may  not  be  said  that  the  armies  that  fought 
for  the  Union  were  all  Republican.  There  were 
thousands  of  Democrats,  with  whom  love  of 
country  was  more  potent  than  party  affiliations 
on  the  one  hand,  or  party  prejudices  on  the  other 
— thousands  of  them  to  range  themselves  under 
the  old  flag  and  share  its  triumphs  and  defeats. 


254  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Nevertheless  the  responsibility  of  the  struggle 
was  upon  the  Republicans ;  a  Republican  Presi 
dent  undertook  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  ;  the 
ways  and  means  to  assist  him  were  discovered  by 
Republicans;  financial  affairs  during  the  period 
were  administered  by  Republican  officials,  and 
money  voted  by  a  Republican  majority  in  Con 
gress  to  feed,  clothe  and  pay  the  soldiers.  When 
a  Democratic  National  Convention  solemnly  re 
solved  the  war  a  failure,  the  Republicans  answered 
by  re-electing  Mr.  Lincoln.  At  last  the  end  came, 
and  there  was  great  glory,  and  the  historian  of  the 
future,  having  to  pronounce  upon  the  subject,  will 
give  it  all  to  the  Republican  party. 

The  reconstruction  consequent  upon  the  return 
of  peace  was  complicated  by  questions  of  infinite 
gravity.  What,  under  the  Constitution,  was  the 
status  of  the  States  which  had  gone  into  secession? 

o 

What  treatment  should  be  accorded  those  who  had 
been  captured  arms  in  hand  ?  What  the  policy  to 
be  pursued  toward  the  millions  of  slaves  who  had 
been  the  innocent  cause  of  the  struggle?  The 
debt  accumulated  had  to  be  provided  for — but 
how  ?  The  maimed  and  disabled  living  soldier 
and  hJs  family,  and  the  orphans  and  widows  of  the 
dead — impoverished  and  helpless — called  for  the 
most  tender  care.  Many  of  these  questions  were 
settled,  some  by  generous  laws,  others  by  consti 
tutional  amendments.  The  burthen  of  this  set 
tlement  fell  upon  Republican  representatives. 


THE    POLITICIAN.  255 

Whether  the  policy  pursued[  by  them  was  wise  or 
unwise,  it  was  founded  in  justice,  and  upon  a  rec 
ognition  of  the  rights  of  men.  That  not  a  drop 
of  blood  was  shed  in  expiation  of  a  treason  of 
such  magnitude  and  cost  in  blood  and  treasure,  is 

o  ^ 

an  example  of  Christian  charity  the  like  of  which 
is  unknown  in  the  history  of  governments.  During 
the  pendency  of  the  issues  of  reconstruction,  Gen 
eral  Harrison,  as  a  citizen,  made  many  speeches,  all 
in  harmony  with  the  settlement  as  it  was  finally  ar 
ranged.  It  is  not  possible  to  recall  or  quote  a 
sentence  or  a  word  from  any  one  of  them  which 
is  in  the  least  vindictive.  Treating  of  the  Con 
federate  soldier,  he  was  respectful  and  forgiving. 
The  manumitted  negroes  were  with  him  objects- 
of  compassion  and  sympathy,  who  were  to  be  led 
up  out  of  the  depths  of  slavery  by  the  hand 
gently,  kindly,  patiently,  as  prisoners  long  unused 
to  light  are  led  out  of  rough  and  darkened  cells. 

There  were  a  few  questions  upon  which  the 
Republican  party  took  side  in  its  earliest  plat 
forms  which  remained  unsettled  through  the  war, 
and  are  yet  bones  of  party  contention.  Such  were 
the  sale  of  the  public  lands  to  actual  settlers,  and 
a  proper  policy  for  providing  revenue  for  the 
support  of  the  general  government  by  duties 
upon  imports. 

Besides  that,  some  of  the  issues  supposed  to 
have  been  finally  and  forever  settled  in  course  of 
the  reconstruction,  have  arisen  in.  new  forms  to 


256  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

vex  statesmen  of  the  present.  These  pertain 
largely  to  civil  rights  and  pensions. 

Others  exist  that  are  entirely  new,  such  as  limi 
tations  to  immigration,  education,  adjustments 
between  capital  and  labor,  coast  defenses,  the 
rehabilitation  of  the  navy,  the  forfeiture  to  the 
general  government  of  lands  donated  in  aid  of 
railroads,  the  distribution  of  the  surplus  accumu 
lated  in  the  national  treasury,  the  currency,  the 
gross  disfranchisement  of  colored  voters  in  certain 
of  the  Southern  States,  the  admission  of  Terri- 
.tories  into  the  Union,  etc.  Upon  most,  if  not  all, 
these  questions  General  Harrison  has  had  occa 
sion  in  the  course  of  his  political  life  to  define  his 
position  ;  and  a  biography  of  him  would  be  inex 
cusably  imperfect  if  it  failed  to  give  the  reader  a 
view  of  his  opinions  in  the.  connection. 

Before  taking  them  up,  however,  a  narrative 
of  his  political  life  is  logically  due. 

General  Harrison  began  as  a  stump  speaker 
under  circumstances  that  were  not  very  exciting. 
His  first  essay  was  in  nowise  distinguishable 
from  the  first  essays  of  young  men  generally.  Un 
known  as  he  was  he  could  hardly  expect  great 
audiences.  In  1855  his  law  partner,  Mr.  William 
Wallace,  being  a  candidate  for  clerk  of  Marion 
county,  he  took  to  the  stump  to  help  him.  The 
first  meeting  he  addressed  was  at  Acton,  on  the 

line  of  the  Bio-  Four  Road,  better   known  as  the 
& 

road  from  Cincinnati  to  Indianapolis.     The  depot 


THE   POLITICIAN. 

building,  with  the  narrow  platform  such  as  were 
common  in  those  days,  was  made  available  for  the 
purpose.  He  stood  on  the  railroad  track  between 
the  rails,  while  his  audience — fifteen  or  twenty 
persons  in  all — occupied  the  platform.  Neither 
does  it  appear  that  he  complained  of  want  of  at 
tention,  or  of  want  of  preparation  for  his  own 
accommodation  or  that  of  his  hearers;  and  as  to 
that,  the  "  crowd,"  in  point  of  numbers,  was  quite 
satisfactory  to  him. 

His  efforts  brought  him  reputation,  for  in  the 
same  year  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Campbell, 
then  a  Republican  candidate  for  clerk  in  Shelby 
county,  invited  him  to  go  down  and  do  some 
stumping  for  him.  It  is  reported  that  he  had  a 
good  many  good  meetings  there.  And  not  long 
afterwards,  in  the  same  county,  he  had 'a  joint  dis 
cussion  with  Mr.  Martin  M.  Ray,  who  was  on  the 
other  side  of  politics,  and  subsequently  acquired 
considerable  reputation  as  a  debater  and  orator. 

In  1856  the  Fremont  campaign  came  on.  There 
was  much  political  excitement.  -The  election  of  a 
President  of  the  United  States  furnished  a  broader 
theme  to  an  ambitious  speaker  than  the  election 
of  a  county  clerk.  The  news  having  reached  In 
dianapolis  of  the  nomination  of  the  great  "  Path 
finder,"  the  Republicans  of  the  city  turned  out 
spontaneously  to  ratify  it.  There  was  no  pro 
gramme  for  the  affair.  The  speakers  were  such 
as  could  be  reached  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment. 
17 


258  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

General  Harrison  was  one  of  those  impressed 
into  service  for  the  occasion.  He  was  in  his  law 
office  at  night  after  supper,  doing  some  work, 
when  W.  W.  Roberts,  a  druggist  of  the  city,  and 
some  other  gentlemen,  came  in  and  said  that  they 
were  having  a  ratification  meeting  at  the  old  Bee 
Hive  corner,  and  that  he  must  come  and  make  a 
speech.  He  said  he  would  not  go ;  he  did  not 
know  what  to  say,  it  was  all  so  sudden.  But  they 
insisted,  and  finally  picked  him  up — he  was  not 
very  heavy  in  those  days — put  their  arms  about 
him,  bore  him  down-stairs,  and  kept  on  with  him, 
his  feet  never  touching  the  ground,  until  they  put 
him  on  a  store  box  that  had  been  rolled  out  into 
the  street  at  the  corner.  Upon  readjusting  him 
self  after  the  unceremonious  shaking  up,  he  found 
himself  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  three  or  four 
hundred  people.  There  was  no  way  out  of  the 
affair  but  "to  speak;  accepting  the  situation,  he 
proceeded  and  did  his  best.  That  the  speech  was 
a  success,  and  brought  him  reputation  and  friends, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  the  same 
campaign  he  was  first  in  demand  in  the  school- 
houses  through  the  country.  Indeed,  as  a  speaker, 
he  was  from  that  time  a  general  favorite. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  chapter  relating  to  him 
as  a  lawyer,  General  Harrison  was  in  1-860  nomi 
nated  for  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  There 
upon,  of  course,  he  was  inducted  into  a  broader 
feld  and  entered  upon  a  canvass  of  the  State, 


THE    POLITICIAN. 

With  Colonel  Cyrus  M.  Allen,  of  Vincennes,  a 
nominee  for  Congress,  he  worked  what  is  known 
as  the  "Pocket "  district  thoroughly.  The  political 
feeling  was  intense,  and  it  is  said  that  in  some  of 
the  Democratic  counties  the  question  whether 
Republican  meetings  should  be  allowed  at  all  was 
quite  serious.  His  stumping  in  company  with 
Mr.  Fletcher,  Republican  candidate  for  Super 
intendent  of  Public  Instruction,  has  also  been 
mentioned;  while  his  joint  meeting  with  Mr. 
Hendricks  at  Rockville  has  been  described  with 
particularity.  So,  too,  the  reader  will  remember 
General  Harrison's  renomination  for  Reporter 
of  the  Supreme  Court  and  his  re-election  in 
1864. 

Three  years  afterwards,  however,  finding  that 
he  would  either  have  to  abandon  his  profession 
or  the  office  which  he  was  holding,  he  declined  a 
renomination.  He  took  part  nevertheless  in  the 
campaigns  of  1868  and  1872,  familiarly  known  as 
the  Grant  campaigns.  In  both  those  years  as  a 
speaker  he  travelled  all  over  the  State  address 
ing  large  audiences. 

The  election  of  1876  was  inaugurated  in  In 
diana  under  peculiar  circumstances.  Many  in 
fluential  Republicans  in  the  State  insisted  per 
sonally  and  by  letter  that  General  Harrison 
should  allow  his  name  to  go  on  the  ticket  for 
Governor ;  but  to  all  such  overtures  he  gave  one 
answer,  positively  declining  the  honor.  His 


260  feENjAMiN  HARRISON. 


private  affairs  were  such  that  he  did  not  consider 
it  advisable  to  take  the  candidacy.  The  Hon. 
Godlove  S.  Orth  was  nominated,  and  some 
opposition  having  developed  itself  that  gentle 
man  withdrew  from  the  race  pending  the  canvass, 
leaving  the  Republican  ticket  without  a  head. 

General  Harrison,  supposing  the  matter  set 
tled,  went  away  for  a  rest.  He  betook  himself  to 
the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  and  there, 
beyond  the  reach  of  mail  or  telegraphic  com 
munication,  engaged  in  the  pleasanter  occupation 
of  fishing  for  trout.  He  knew  nothing  of  what 
was  going  on  in  politics  at  home  until,  on  his  re 
turn,  he  reached  Mackinaw.  There  in  a  Chicago 

o 

paper  several  days  old  he  read  of  Mr.  Orth's 
withdrawal.  Upon  getting  to  Fort  Wayne  he 
was  apprised  by  telegraph  that  the  Central  Com 
mittee  had  substituted  him  in  Mr.  Orth's  place. 
A  large  delegation  met  him  at  Muncie  to  urge 
acceptance  upon  him.  In  Indianapolis  a  still 
larger  crowd  was  assembled  at  the  depot  to  re 
ceive  him  and  escort  him  to  his  house.  Governor 
Porter  made  a  speech  on  the  steps  of  his  house, 
pressing  upon  him  that  if  he  declined,  and  the 
Committee  had  to  resort  to  another  substitution, 
the  canvass  which  was  then  on  would  be  utterly 
demoralized  ;  on  the  other  hand  it  was  thought 
he  might  be  able  to  save  the  State  for  Hayes,  the 
Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  Alto 
gether,  seeing  no  way  to  refuse  the  solicitation 
of  the  party,  he  acceded  to  it. 


THE    POLITICIAN.  26 1 

After  a  few  days  of  preparation  he  made  the 
opening  speech  at  Danville  on  the  i8th  of  August, 
and  then  gave  his  whole  time  to  the  campaign. 
The  State  elections,  it  will  be  remembered,  were 
held  in  October.  Having  gotten  so  late  a  start 
he  had  no  time  to  give  attention  to  the  matter 
of  organization.  The  work  on  the  stump  occupied 
him  exclusively.  The  meetings  at  which  he  was 
received  were  extraordinary  in  number  and  zeal. 
The  displays  and  demonstrations,  not  to  speak 
of  the  intelligence  of  the  people  who  took  part  in 
them,  have  never  been  surpassed  in  the  State. 
There  was  one  at  Rockville,  the  county  town  in 
which  he  held  his  debate  with  Mr.  Hendricks 
some  years  before,  which  was  particularly  inter 
esting.  Senator  Hale  was  his  associate  speaker. 
The  people  met  them  at  the  depot  with  a  four- 
horse  barouche,  and  drove  them  to  the  court 
house.  Across  one  of  the  streets  a  rope  had 
been  stretched  with  a  little  girl  in  a  basket  sus 
pended  from  it,  and  as  they  passed  she  was 
lowered  and  filled  the  carriage  bed  with  flowers. 
Mr.  Hale  was  delighted  with  the  ovation,  and 
taking  the  meeting  as  a  fair  illustration  of  the 
popular  feeling  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  State 
would  go  Republican.  A  short  time  before  the 
election,  however,  a  horde  of  Baltimore  plug- 
uglies  were  distributed  through  the  districts,  and 
Mr.  Barnum  began  his  wholesale  purchase  of 
mules.  The  effect  was  disastrous. 


262  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

This  was  the  contest  well  remembered  in  In 
diana  between  General  Harrison  and  the  Hon. 
James  D.  Williams,  of  Knox  county.  It  was  out 
of  a  comparison  of  the  two  in  the  matter  of  per 
sonal  appearance  that  the  former  had  fixed  upon 
him  the  reputation  for  blue  blood  and  kid  gloves 
which  in  certain  quarters  still  serves  as  a  rallying 
cry  against  him.  He  was  not  then,  is  not  now, 
and  had  really  never  been  extreme  in  his  ideas 
of  dress.  On  the  contrary  he  was  habitually 
somewhat  negligent  in  that  respect.  It  is  true 
he  affected  clean  shirts  when  he  could  get  them, 
not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  appearance  as  for 
comfort.  He  was  addicted  to  the  use  of  a  broad- 
brimmed  slouch  hat,  and  he  did  not  stay  at  home 
because  his  boots  were  not  blacked.  His  clothes 
were  of  good  material,  but  plainly  cut  and  made. 
He  wore  no  jewelry  on  finger  or  shirt  front.  He 
combed  his  hair  at  least  once  a  day,  and  thought 
he  violated  no  canon  of  propriety  by  brushing  his 
teeth  in  the  morning.  If  his  shoulders  became 
dusty  it  did  not  mortify  him.  In  short  he  was  in 
attire,  appearance  and  manners  what  is  accepted 
by  the  world  as  a  genuine,  hearty,  unaffected  gen 
tleman. 

The  force  of  the  comparison  alluded  to  would 
be  utterly  lost  without  a  description  of  his  oppo 
nent.  The  reader  is  asked  to  imagine  a  gentle 
man  of  probably  sixty  years  of  age,  who  in  gen 
eral  outward  appearance  bore  a  striking  resem- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  263 

blance     to    Abraham    Lincoln.       He     probably 
exceeded  Mr.  Lincoln  in  height,  but  like  him  was 
large    handed,    with    feet    in     proportion,    and 
ungainly  and  awkward,  but  with  a  pleasant  voice 
and  a  look  of  infinite  good  nature.     He  wore 
during  the  canvass  a  "stove-pipe"  hat,  very  tall, 
and  so  worn  that  there  was  no  trace  of  silk  left 
on  it.     Mud,  wind  and  weather  had  stained  it  the 
color  of  tobacco  juice.     His  shirt  collar,  through 
the  sweat  of  the  labor  he  had  undergone,  was  dis 
posed  to  crawl  down  and  hide  beneath  the  old- 
fashioned  stock,  which  was  itself  frayed  around  the 
edges  and  otherwise  much  the  worse  of  the  wear. 
Out  of  the  stock  projected  a  neck  very  long,  very 
red  and  marked  with  an  unusually  protuberant 
"Adam's  apple.1'     In  token  of  the  confidence  the 
people  of  his  county  reposed  in  his  integrity  he 
had  represented  them   in  the  Legislature  for  a 
great  many  years  ;  and  during  the  time  appeared 
invariably  in   a  suit  of  home-made   or  domestic 
jeans  such  as  is  popular  to  this  day  amongst  the 
mountaineers  of  Kentucky.     But  as  Mr.  Lincoln 
could  never  find  a  merchant  tailor  artistic  enough 
to  fit  him,  neither  could  "  Uncle  Jimmy  Williams." 
Sitting  or  standing  his  tout-ensemble  was  that  of  a 
lay  figure  or  wooden  man.     His  shoes  were  of 
the  coarsest,  and  when  he  sat  his  foot  down  the 
number  of  superficial  inches  it  covered  was  ex 
traordinary.    His  occupation  was  that  of  a  farmer ; 
and  it  is  said  that  in  plowing  he  could  always  do 


264  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

r 

a  better  job  and  made  a  neater  furrow  if  bare 
footed.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  ever  in  his  life  he 
covered  his  large  honest  hands  with  anything 
more  graceful  than  a  mitten. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  we  are  speaking 
derisively;  indeed,  it  would  be  very  unjust  from 
the  description  given  to  infer  that  Governor 
Williams  was  wanting  in  ability.  He  possessed 
a  rare  stock  of  good,  sound,  practical,  common 
sense,  which  served  him  well  in  lieu  of  a  college 
education.  Like  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  had  the  knack 
of  knowing  men.  Conscious  of  a  lack  of  grace 
in  his  physique,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  make  him 
misanthropic  and  sour,  he  accepted  it,  in  good  part, 
and  actually  converted  it  to  his  advantage.  With 
out  pretension  of  any  sort,  his  walk  was  such  that, 
though  political  enemies  sneered  at  him  as  "  Blue 
Jeans  "  Williams,  not  one  of  them  ever  dared  deny 
that  he  was  a  good  man,  honest  and  faithful  in  all 
his  relations.  His  flower  of  life,  as  he  saw  it,  was 
his  primitive,  Jacksonian  Democracy.  Such  a  man 
could  not  help  being  popular. 

In  the  contest  to  which  we  have  adverted  he 
made  his  good  sense  manifest  by  avoiding  joint 
discussions.  Throughout  the  canvass  it  was  his 

o 

custom  to  be  present  promptly  at  the  hour  ap 
pointed  for  the  meeting,  wherever  that  might  be. 
Knowing  his  inability  to  speak,  he  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  audience  but  a  few  minutes,  con 
cluding  with  a  smile,  and  the  declaration,  "  Now, 


THE    POLITICIAN.  265 

I  will  give  place  to  a  more  abler  man."  Where 
upon  the  Hon.  Daniel  W.  Voorhees  would  arise, 
and  deliver  the  speech  of  the  occasion. 

From  these  attempts  at  description,  the  reader 
can  readily  discern  how  General  Harrison  might 
become  known  as  "the  man  in  kid  gloves," 
although  there  was  nothing  in  his  habits  of  life  to 
justify  the  epithet. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  unfavorable  to 
him;  but,  in  saying  this,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  he  ran  very  handsomely  ahead  of  the  rest 
of  his  ticket.  The  following,  taken  from  the  New 
York  Sun,  shows  the  comparative  vote  received 
by  the  Republican  candidates  in  the  year  1876, 
and  sufficiently  explains  his  defeat,  without  im 
puting  it  to  fine  clothes  in  the  one  case  or  back 
woods  apparel  in  the  other : 

This  was  the  vote  on  the  Republican  side : 

Harrison,  for  Governor,     .         .         .  208,080 

Robertson,  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  206,641 

Watts,  for  Secretary  of  State,    .         .  206,774 

Herriott,  for  Treasurer,      .         .         .  206,197 

Hess,  for  Auditor,     ....  206,774 

Smith,  for  School  Inspector,      ,         .  205,322 

It  would  seem  from  this  that  in  1876  General  Harri 
son,  despite  the  disadvantages  under  which  he  ran,  was 
in  that  year  about  two  thousand  votes  stronger  than  the 
rest  of  his  colleagues  on  the  ticket.  Thirteen  Congress 
men  were  voted  for  on  the  same  day  that  the  Governor 
was  elected,  and  the  combined  vote  01  mese  on  the  Re- 


266  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

publican  side  was  204,419,  so  that  from  this  comparison 
it  would  seem  clear  that  General  Harrison  was  from  three 
to  four  thousand  votes  stronger  than  the  Republican  or 
ganization  in  the  State  at  that  time.  His  own  county • 

Marion — which  includes  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  gave 
him  a  majority  of  1600.  He  carried  Vanderburg  county, 
which  includes  the  city  of  Evansville,  and  Tippecanoe 
county,  which  includes  the  city  of  Lafayette.  He  was 
beaten  by  a  plurality  of  5084,  in  a  total  vote  of  434,457. 
There  was  that  year  a  Greenback  vote  of  13,000,  most 
of  it  drawn  from  Republican  ranks. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer  the  perfect  solution 
of  General  Harrison's  defeat  is  exposed  in  the 
last  sentence  of  the  extract  quoted ;  and  it  is  but 
just  to  add  that  during  the  entire  campaign  he 
never  alluded  to  his  opponent,  and  was  not  in 
any  way  responsible  for  the  "Blue  Jeans"  talk 
of  the  day. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  defeat  was  followed  by 
loss  of  prestige  with  his  party.  Far  from  that, 
two  years  later  he  was  called  upon  to  preside  over 
the  State  Convention,  and  in  1880  we  find  him  in 
the  National  Convention  at  Chicago,  chairman  of 
the  delegation  from  Indiana. 

In  the  latter  assemblage,  after  some  thirty  bal- 
lotings,  it  became  apparent  that  Mr.  Elaine,  who 
had  been  steadily  receiving  the  support  of  the  In 
diana  representatives,  could  not  succeed.  About 
that  time  a  well-known  Wisconsin  delegate  came 
to  General  Harrison  and  asked  what  he  could 
rely  upon  if  the  Washburne  vote  were  turned 
pver  to  General  Garfield.  A  hurried  canvass  was 


THE    POLITICIAN.  267 

had,  and  assurances  given  that  Indiana  would  back 
the  change  ;  whereupon  it  was  effected.  Wiscon 
sin  cast  her  eighteen  votes  for  Garfield,  and  on  the 
next  roll  call  Indiana  gave  him  twenty-seven  of 
her  thirty  votes,  two  going  to  Elaine,  and  one  to 
Grant.  Next  ballot,  Indiana  gave  Garfield  twenty- 
nine  votes,  and  he  was  nominated. 

In  that  early  period  there  were  delegates  to 
the  Convention  who  insisted  on  using  General 
Harrison's  name  for  the  first  nomination,  but  he 
resolutely  declined. 

In  1884  he  again  represented  his  State  as 
delegate-at-large,  and  he  was  again  discussed  in 
connection  with  the  nomination  for  the  first  place 
on  the  National  ticket. 

tn  the  Garfield  campaign,  it  is  to  be  added, 
that  he  was  invited  to  accompany  that  gentleman 
in  his  trip  to  New  York.  Accepting  the  invita 
tion,  he  assisted  in  the  speech-making  at  the 
several  stations  along  the  route.  In  further  evi 
dence  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by 
President  Garfield,  he  was  offered  a  place  in  the 
Cabinet,  but  the  honor  was  declined  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  quite  unfamiliar  with  public 
affairs  at  Washington ;  that  he  had  just  been 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  which  was  a 
place  where  he  could  learn  by  listening  before  he 
was  compelled  to  incur  responsibility  in  any  way. 
Mr.  Garfield  concluded  his  argument  on  the  oc- 
qasion  by  saying,  somewhat  sadly:  "That, 


268  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

in  the  days  of  Clay  and  Webster,  no  public  man 
hesitated  to  leave  the  Senate  or  the  House  for  a 
seat  in  the  Cabinet,  but  now  it  was  the  reverse. 
He  feared  the  change  was  attributable  to  the  fact 
that  the  business  of  the  government  had  grown 
so  much  that  Cabinet  positions  had  become  slavish 
offices." 

General  Harrison  participated  actively  in  the 
campaign  of  1880,  and  distinguished  himself 
particularly  by  a  speech  in  answer  to  one  by  Mr. 
Hendricks,  in  which  the  latter  gentleman  had  at 
tacked  President  Garfield  for  going  on  the  Elec 
toral  Commission  after  having,  as  Mr.  Hendricks 
charged,  previously  expressed  an  opinion  on  the 
question.  The  accusation  was  more  partisan  than 
wise,  because  every  member  of  the  Commission 
of  both  parties,  except  the  Judges,  who  held  the 
balance  of  power,  was  supposed  to  have  given  an 
expression  of  opinion  in  the  course  of  the  de 
bates  upon  the  subject. 

When  the  election  was  over,  and  the  Republi 
cans  had  a  majority  on  joint  ballot,  General  Har 
rison  became  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  was  unanimously  chosen.  He  held 
the  place  the  six  years  to  the  perfect  satisfaction 
of  his  party,  and  would  have  been  re-elected  but 
for  the  Democratic  revolution  inaugurated  in  the 
State  Senate  by  Mr.  Green  Smith.  The  particu 
lars  of  that  shameful  affair  have  been  given  in  uie 
remarks  explanatory  of  the  speech  in  the  Lieu- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  260, 

tenant-Governor's  case.  With  the  respect  of  his 
political  enemies,  and  the  unabated  confidence  of 
his  party,  General  Harrison  retired  to  his  law 
office  and  engaged  once  more  in  his  profession. 
While  there  he  was  called  to  the  higher  honor  of 

o 

his  present  candidacy, 

The  National  Republican  Convention  assembled 
in  Chicago,  111.,  on  the  igth  day  of  June,  1888. 
The  preparations  to  house  it  in  the  Exposition 
building  were  extremely  elaborate  and  successful. 
Nothing  of  the  kind,  more  magnificent  and  yet 
tasteful,  had  been  seen  on  the  continent.  One  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  been  admitted  to  the  vast 
interior  during  a  day  session  will  never  forget  the 
impression  wrought  upon  him,  while  the  scene  at 
night,  under  the  flood  of  brilliance  that  filled  it, 
is  simply  defiant  of  description.  To  say  that  the 
city  distinguished  itself  in  the  arrangements^  the 
finish  and  the  decorations,  is  saying  much  in  little. 
Her  matchless  audacity  of  enterprise  was  prob 
ably  never  better  illustrated. 

The  Convention  is  too  recent  of  occurrence  to 
require  a  detailed  account  of  its  proceedings,  even 
if  the  space  permissible  in  this  volume  would 
allow  it. 

Hon.  John  M.  Thurston,  of  Nebraska,  was 
chosen  temporary  chairman,  and  Hon.  M.  M. 
Estee,  of  California,  permanent  chairman. 

The  candidates  for  the  Presidential  nomination 
were  numerous,  all  amongst  the  foremost  men  of 


270  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

i  he  party  in  the  nation.  Upon  their  individual 
merits  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have 
gone  amiss.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  room  for 
difference  in  choice,  except  upon  the  ground  of 
expediency. 

There  were  in  all  eight  ballots  taken  by  the 
Convention  for  the  Presidential  nomination,  of 
which  the  first  is  given  to  show  chiefly  a  list  of  the 
gentlemen  voted  for  and  the  vote  in  tabulation  by 
which  General  Harrison  was  nominated. 

FIRST    BALLOT. 

, 

Russel  A.  Alger       .  .  .         *        -.     '  84 

William  B.  Allison  .  .         .;.'•'  72 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  .  '."•-.         .  99 

<                    Edwin  Fitler    .         ..  .         .         .  24 

Walter  Q.  Gresham  .  .      ..  .    '      ,   '  III 

Benjamin  Harrison  .  .         .....  83 

Joseph  R.  Havvley  '     .    ,  .         .         .  .  13 

John  J.  Ingalls          .  .  .      ".''.'  25 

W.  W.  Phelps           .  .  .    ,.    .         .  25 

Jeremiah  Rusk         .  .,'.'.         .  .25 

John  Sherman       '    „  .  -  /        .         .  225 

James  G.  Elaine       .  .  .         .        '-.   • ,  35 

Robert  Lincoln   ..    ,.  ...   .  .      .  .  '      .  3 

William  McKinley,  Jr.  .  .         ..       ,T  2 

As  the  balloting  proceeded  other  names  were 
added  to  the  list: 

On  the  third  ballot  Warner  Miller  received  2 
votes. 

On  the  fourth,  Fred  Douglas  and  Governor 
Foraker  each  received  i  vote. 

On  the  sixth,  Fred  Grant  received  i  vote, 


THE    POLITICIAN.  27! 

On  the  seventh,  Creed  Haymond  received  i 
vote. 

So,  in  course  of  the  balloting,  certain  of  the 
candidates  withdrew  or  were  withdrawn  by  au 
thority:  of  the  former  was  Mr.  Depew;  of  the 
latter  were  Mr.  Elaine,  Mr.  Allison  and  Mr. 
Rusk. 

The"  eighth  and  decisive  ballot  was  as  follows: 

McKinley  ......  4  votes. 

Sherman    .         .         .         .         .         .         .       Il8 

Gresham -59 

Elaine 5 

Alger 100 

Harrison 544 

The  nomination  was  of  course  made  unani 
mous. 

The  balloting  for  a  Vice-Presidential  candidate 
was  entered  upon  immediately  that  order  was  re 
stored  and  the  nominations  were  made.  There 
was  but  one  ballot: 

William  Walter  Phelps       ....  1 19  votes. 

B.K.Bruce n      " 

Wm.  O.  Bradley 103      " 

Thomas I      " 

Levi  P.  Morton 591      " 

William  R.  Moore  was  put  in  nomination,  but 
withdrew  his  name  before  the  roll  was  called. 

Pursuant  to  the  time-honored  custom,  a  Com 
mittee  of  one  from  each  State  was  appointed  to 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

iniorm  General  Harrison  and  Mr.  Morton  of 
their  nominations. 

The  Committee  waited  upon  the  General  at 
his  residence  in  Indianapolis  on  the  4th  of  July. 

There  were  present  of  that  body  as  follows: 

The  Chairman,  Mr.  Estee,  of  California;  Colo 
nel  George  Denny,  of  Kentucky;  ex-Governor 
Charles  Foster,  of  Ohio;  H.  C.  Payne,  of  Wis 
consin;  H.  L.  Alden,  of  Kansas;  General  Reeder, 
of  Pennsylvania;  D.  C.  Pearson,  North  Carolina; 
C.  H.  Terrell,  Texas;  Governor  P.  C.  Cheney, 
New  Hampshire;  General  Barin,  Oregon;  Colo 
nel  S.  H.  Allen,  Maine;  Hon.  William  Marine, 
Maryland;  R.  A.  Norval,  Nebraska;  A.  H.  Hen- 
drick,  Alabama;  Captain  John  C.  Daugherty, 
Tennessee;  Logan  H.  Root,  Arkansas;  W.  W. 
Brown,  Georgia;  Thomas  Scott,  Illinois;  W. 
McPherson,  Michigan;  R.  B.  Langdon,  Minne 
sota;  James  N.  Huston,  Indiana. 

To  the  very  appropriate  and  happily  worded 
speech  of  Mr.  Estee,  Chairman  of  the  Committee, 
General  Harrison  replied: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee: — 
The  official  notice  which  you  have  brought  of  the  nomi 
nation  conferred  upon  me  by  the  Republican  National 
Convention,  recently  in  session  in  Chicago,  excites  emo 
tions  of  a  profound,  though  of  a  somewhat  conflicting 
character.  That  after  full  deliberation  and  free  consulta 
tion,  the  representatives  of  the  Republican  party  of  the 
United  States  should  have  concluded  that  the  great  prin 
ciples  enunciated  in  the  platform  adopted  by  the  Con- 


THE   FOtiriClAN.  373 

vention  could  be  in  some  measure  safely  confided  to  my 
care,  is  an  honor  of  which  I  am  deeply  sensible  and  for 
which  I  am  very  grateful.  I  do  not  assume  or  believe 
that  this  choice  implies  that  the  Convention  found  in  me 
any  pre-eminent  fitness,  or  .exceptional  fidelity  to  the 
principles  of  government  to  which  we  are  mutually 
pledged.  My  satisfaction  with  the  result  would  be  alto 
gether  spoiled  if  that  result  had  been  reached  by  any 
unworthy  methods,  or  by  a  disparagement  of  the  more 
eminent  men  who  divided  with  me  the  suffrages  of  the 
Convention.  I  accept  the  nomination  with  so  deep  a 
sense  of  the  dignity  of  the  office  and  of  the  gravity  of 
its  duties  and  responsibilities  as  altogether  to  exclude 
any  feeling  of  exultation  or  pride.  The  principles  of 
government  and  the  practices  in  administration  upon 
which  issues  are  now  fortunately  so  clearly  made,  are  so 
important  in  their  relations  to  the  national  and  individual 
prosperity  that  we  may  expect  an  unusual  popular  inter 
est  in  the  campaign.  Relying  wholly  upon  the  consider 
ate  judgment  of  our  fellow-citizens  and  the  gracious 
favor  of  God,  we  will  confidently  submit  our  cause  to 
the  arbitrament  of  a  free  ballot 

The  day  you  have  chosen  for  this  visit  suggests  no 
thoughts  that  are  not  in  harmony  with  the  occasion. 
The  Republican  party  has  walked  in  the  light  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  It  has  lifted  the  shaft  of 
patriotism  upon  the  foundation  laid  at  Bunker  Hill.  It 
has  made  the  more  perfect  Union  secure  by  making  all 
men  free.  Washington  and  Lincoln,  Yorktown  and 
Appomattox,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  are  naturally  and  wor 
thily  associated  with  our  thoughts  to-day. 

As  soon  as  may  be  possible,  I  shall,  by  letter,  com 
municate  to  your  Chairman  a  more  formal  acceptance 
of  the  nomination,  but  it  may  be  proper  for  me  to  say 
now  that  I  have  already  examined  the  platform  with 
some  care,  and  that  its  declarations,  to  some  of  which 
your  Chairman  has  alluded,  are  in  harmony  with  my 
views. 

It  gives  me  pleasure,  gentlemen,  to  receive  you  in  my 
18 


2 74  BEN'J  A M  IN    II  Ak k I s<  )N . 

home  and  to  thank  you  for  the  cordial  nsanner  in  which 
you  have  conveyed  the  official  message. 


Needless  to  say  here  that  General  Harrison's 
speech  has  been  received  with  great  satisfaction 
by  the  party  throughout  the  country. 

We  have  seen  General  Harrison  as  Student,  as 
Lawyer,  and  as  Soldier ;  we  are  also  informed  of 
his  political  career  down  to  the  present;  but  now 
the  interest  in  him  is  not  merely  of  concern  to  his 
fellow-citizens  of  Indiana  ;  now  the  people  of  the 
whole  country  demand  to  know,  in  the  first  place, 
if  he  has  a  record  upon  the  living  issues  of  the 
day  ;  and,  secondly,  what  that  record  is.  Such  we 
assume  is  the  great  difference  between  being  a 
candidate  for  the  Governorship  of  a  State,  and  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

General  Harrison  has  a  record  upon  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  every  topic  that  may  be  raised  in  the 
canvass  now  upon  the  American  public.  It  con 
sists  mostly  of  remarks  made  in  speeches  at  dif 
ferent  times  and  places,  and,  admitting  that  the 
curiosity  in  the  connection  is  natural  and  reason 
able,  we  do  not  know  how  better  to  meet  and 
satisfy  it  than  by  giving  extracts  from  his  sayings 
as  they  are  to  be  found  in  reports  of  addresses 
delivered  by  him  and  published  before  his  nomi 
nation.  And  to  this  task  we  will  now  proceed,  pre 
mising  only  that,  for  economy  of  space,  not  to 
speak  of  clearer  understanding  on  the  reader's 


POLITICIAN.  275 

part,  the  extracts  submitted  are  grouped  together 
in  classes,  each  under  a  heading  significant  of  the 
subject  to  which  it  belongs. 

CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM. 

I  want  to  assure  you  to-night  that  I  am  an  advocate 
of  Civil  Service  Reform.  My  brief  experience  at  Wash 
ington  has  led  me  often  to  utter  the  wish,  with  an  em 
phasis  I  do -not  often  use,  that  I  might  be  forever  relieved 
of  any  connection  with  the  distribution  of  public  patron 
age.  I  covet  for  myself  the  free  and  unpurchased  sup 
port  of  my  fellow-citizens  and  long  to  be  able  to  give  my 
time  and  energy  solely  to  the  public  affairs  that  legiti 
mately  relate  to  the  honorable  trust  which  you  have  com 
mitted  to  me.  It  is  easy  for  theorists  to  make  suggestions 
upon  this  subject  which  in  their  opinion  would  cure  all 
existing  evils.  I  assure  you  it  is  more  difficult  to  frame 
a  law  that  shall  be  safe  and  practical  in  its  application. 
I  know  that  several  Republican  senators  gave  much 
thought  and  study  to  this  question  during  the  last  session. 
I  believe  the  next  session  will  ^witness  the  enactment  of 
a  law,  which,  if  it  does  not  consummate,  will  at  least 
auspiciously  begin  this  reform.  That  there  are  sincere 
advocates  of  this  reform  in  the  Democratic  party  as  in 
our  own  I  do  not  deny.  But  that  this  reform  would  be 
introduced  by  that  party  if  they  were  to  come  now  in  the 
control  of  .the  Federal  patronage,  I  do  not  think  any  sen 
sible  man  believes.  In  some  of  the  States,  and  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  Democratic  party  to-day 
controls  the  patronage.  Need  I  say  that  in  the  appoint 
ments  made  there  we  find  no  suggestion  of  Civil  Service 
Reform  ?— [Speech  at  Indianapolis,  Aug.  30,  1882.] 

No  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency  could  rally 
his  party  if  he  were  to  proclaim  as  the  rule  of  his  admin 
istration,  that  public  office  should  not  be  a  reward  of 
party  zeal.  The  fate  of  this  reform  is  in  our  hands. 
Democrats  have  masqueraded  as  civil  service  reformers 


2/  HENJAM1N    HAkklSON. 

in  their  conventions,  but  they  drop  the  mask  now  that 
their  hands  are  extended  to  clutch  the  booty.  The  only 
hope  for  the  permanency  of  this  reform  is  that  it  shall  in 
the  future  go  under  the  friendly  hands  and  nurture  of  a 
Republican  administration  until  it  has  become  a  rooted 
and  substantial  thing.  We  may  then  expect  that  the 
Democratic  party  will  again  praise  its  comeliness. — \_Ioiva 
State  Register,  Oct.  22,  1883.] 


CIVIL  RIGHTS. 
The  occasion  for  the  extract  following  was  a 

o 

meeting  of  colored  citizens  called  to  protest  against 
the  abrogation  of  the  civil  rights  act. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow-citizens,  Ladies  and  Gentle 
men  :  It  has  not  been  true  during  all  the  period  of  my 
residence  in  Indiana  that  you  have  been  my  fellow-citi 
zens.  It  is  true,  however,  to-night.  When,  in  1854,  I 
came  to  Indiana  to  reside  the  constitution  then  in  force 
in  this  State  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  as  ex 
plained  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  did  not  recognize 
you  as  citizens.  I  stand  to-night  and  look  into  the.' 
face  of  no  man  who  is  not  my  fellow-citizen,  endowed  under 
the  law  and  the  constitution  with  every  right. that  I  pos 
sess.  I  do  not  think  there  has  been  any  revolution  in 
history  more  notable  or  significant  than  the  revolution 
which  has  taken  place  in  this  country  since  1860,  as 
affecting  the  status  of  the  colored  men  and  women  of 
America.  When  we  look  back  to  that  time  before  the 
war  we  see  4,000,000  of  Africans  who  were  slaves — 
absolutely  deprived  of  all  natural  and  political  rights;  in 
the  eyes  of  the  law  mere  things,  not  differing  in  any 
essential,  so  far  as  the  law  describes  them,  from  a  horse 
or  a  mule — chattels,  to  be  sold  upon  the  auction  block, 
10  be  transferred  by  bills  of  sale,  to  be  passed  by  testa 
mentary  expressions  of  those  who  owned  them  to  the 
children  that  came  after  them.  I  talked  to  one  here  to- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  2 77 

night  who   has   been  the  subject  of  those  bills  of  sale. 
That  was  the  status  of  the  colored   men  in  the  slave 
States.    What  was  it  in  many  of  the  free  States  and  here  in 
Indiana?     We  had  the  old  thirteenth  article  of  our  State 
Constitution,  adopted   in   1850,  which   absolutely   made 
it  illegal  for  a  colored  man  to  come  into  Indiana,  which 
made  it  illegal  for  any  man  to  hire  a  colored  man  who 
had  come  into  the  State,  though  he  might  be  starving, 
and  have  a  willing  head  to  work  and  earn  the  bread  he 
and  his  children  needed,  under  the  penalty  of  going  to 
jail  for  hiring  him.     I   recollect  when  that  was    your 
status  here  in  Indiana,  and  there  were  convictions  in  this 
State  against  white  men  for  hiring  black  men  to  work 
for  them.     What  was  your  status  then  with  reference  to 
our  public  schools?     You    know  when   your  children 
were  first  admitted  to  the  schools.     I  doubt  if  there  is  a 
person  here  so  young  that  they  do  not  recollect  it.    You 
have  left  the  infants  at  home  to-night — the  very  young 
ones.    What  is  your  present  relation  to  that  great  agency 
which,  more  than  State  laws  or  constitutional  laws,  is  to 
be  the  agency  of  the  elevation  of  the  black  race— the  free 
schools  ?     Why,  all   that  is   said   in  this  letter  that  has 
just  been  read  from  Austin  H.  Brown  is  true  as  to  the 
present  condition  of  the  schools  in  Indiana.     You  have 
magnificently  constructed  and    equipped  school-houses 
built  out  of  the  public  taxes  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  in 
which  your  children   may  from   day  to  day  acquire  the 
elements  of  an  education  which  shall  fit  them   for  the 
right  exercise  of  that  citizenship  with  which  they  are  now 
endowed ;  and  in  those  schools  you  have  colored  men 
who,  by  their  own  intelligence  and  industry,  have  made 
themselves   fit  to  preside   over  them,  and   dispense  the 
discipline  and   instruction  which  pertains  to  them  with  a 
degree  of  skill   and   satisfaction  that  is  a  credit  to  your 
race.     I  noticed  to-day  as  I  walked  down  from  my  house 
in  the  morning  young  colored  children,  with  their  books 
under   their   arms,    going   to   the  high  school,  entering 
there  with  the  children  of  the  white  men,  rich  and  poor*, 
of  Indianapolis,  upon  equal  terms,  to  acquire  the  higher 
branches  of  education.     When  we  recall   the   legal  re- 


27?  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

straints  which  less  than  twenty-five  years  ago  were  upon 
you,  and  the  weight  of  prejudice  which  kept  you  down 
and  separated  you  from  your  white  fellow-citizens,  we 
look  with  wonder  upon  the  condition  of  things  to-day, 
and  I  am  here  to  rejoice  with  you  in  it.  There,  has 
never  been  a  proposition  looking  to  the  striking  off  of  a 
shackle  from  the  black  man's  wrist,  or  from  his  mind  or 
from  his  personal  freedom  which  has  not  received  my 
hearty  endorsement  and  my  personal  help — not  one.  I 
am  glad  to  know  that  you  are  not  wholly  indebted  to 
those  distinguished  pioneers,  those  intrepid  men  who 
faced  this  wall  of  prejudice  in  your  behalf  for  what  has 
been  achieved,  but  that  you  yourselves  have  had  an 
honorable  part  in  breaking  down  those  walls  of  opposi 
tion.  It  was  most  appropriate  that  the  freedom  of  the 
blacks  should  not  come  until  the  blood  of  the  black  man 
had  been  shed  on  the  battle-field  to  procure  it.  I  have 
seen  myself  in  the  South  a  brigade  of  black  men  face 
the  rebels.  I  have  seen  them  turn  up  their  dusky  faces 
to  the  sun  as  their  souls  were  freed  by  death  upon  the 
battle-field  in  order  that  they  might  win  freedom  for 
their  race. — [Speech  at  Indianapolis,  Oct.  23,  1883.] 


FINANCES. 

The  Surplus  in  the  Treasury. 

As  Fred  Grant  said,  "A  surplus  is  easier  to  handle 
than  a  deficit;"  but  I  do  not  deny  that  in  connection 
with  this  surplus  of  about  one  hundred  millions  a  year 
there  is  danger;  there  are  dangers  of  profligacy  of  ex 
penditure,  and  others  that  require  us  to  address  ourselves 
promptly  and  intelligently  to  the  question  of  a  reduction 
of  our  revenue.  I  have  said  before,  as  your  resolutions 
say,  I  would  like  to  have  that  work  done  by  the  Repub 
licans  because  I  would  like  to  have  it  done  with  refer 
ence  to  some  great  questions  connected  with  the  use  of 
revenue,  about  which  I  cannot  trust  my  Democratic 
Mends.  I  would  like  to  have  our  coast  defences  made 


THE    POLITICIAN.  2 79 

secure;  I  would  like  to  have  our  navy  made  respectable, 
so  that  an  American  naval  officer,  as  he  trod  the  deck 
of  the  ship  bearing  the  starry  banner  at  its  head  in  any 
port  throughout  the  world,  and  looked  about  upon  her 
equipment  and  ornament,  might  feel  that  she  was  a  match 
for  the  proudest  ship  that  walked  the  sea  under  any 
other  flag.  I  would  like  to  feel  that  no  third-rate  power, 
aye,  no  first-rate  power,  could  sail  into  our  defenceless 
harbors  and  lav  our  great  cities  under  tribute.  I  would 
like  to  feel  that  the  just  claim  of  the  survivors  of  the 
Union  army  of  the  war  were  made  secure  and  safe. 
—[Speech  at  Indianapolis,  Dec.  20,  1887.] 

Value  of  a  Stable  Currency. 

A  stable  currency — one  that  has  a  fixed  value — that 
is  worth  the  same  to-day  and  to-morrow — is  the  best 
currency  for  men  in  all  conditions  of  life,  and  is  the  only 
one  with  which  men  in  all  conditions  will  be  satisfied ; 
and  if  there  is  any  class  of  men  in  the  world  who  have  a 
deeper  interest  than  others  in  having  currency  which  is 
the  same  from  month  to  month  and  from  year  to  year,  it 
is  the  poor  man,  the  laboring  man — the  men  who  are 
most  liable  to  be  deceived  by  those  who  have  better 
opportunities  of  information  in  regard  to  matters  of 
finance.  The  man  who  sits  on  some  financial  eminence 
can  see  beforehand  the  fluctuations  in  the  money  market 
and  save  himself  from  loss,  but  the  man  who  cannot  is 
the  man  down  in  the  valley  to  whom  information  of  these 
changes — financial  changes — come  tardily.  Where  you 
have  a  fluctuating  currency,  when  it  goes  up  labor  is  the 
last  thing  to  feel  the  rise,  and  when  it  goes  down  labor 
is  the  first  thing  to  feel  the  depression.  Then,  if  there  i.s 
one  class  more  than  another  that  has  a  deep  interest  in  a 
permanent,  stable  currency,  it  is  the  poor  man,  who  has 
.not  the  ability  to  watch  its  fluctuations  and  arrange  his 
finances  with  reference  to  them.  Our  greenback  cur 
rency,  with  this  quality  added  to  it,  is  a  currency  with 
Which  I  believe  the  people  will  never  consent  to  part. 

-[Speech  delivered  at  Danville,  IncL,  Aug.  1 8,  1 8/6.] 


2$O  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

The  Financial  Question 

The  financial  question  is  unfortunately  still  in  the  arena 
of  politics.  It  will  be  a  happy  clay  for  the  country  when 
we  can  be  sure  of  one  full  year  tin  vexed  by  financial 
tinkering.  The  most  serious  drawback  to  a  National 
currency  is  that  if  disturbed  by  unwise  legislation,  or 
threatened  by  the  clamor  of  demagogues,  the  mischief 
is  as  wide  as  the  country.  A  certain  and  stable  standard 
by  which  values  may  be  measured  is  the  first  necessity 
of  commerce.  So  long  as  possible  legislation  by  the 
next  Congress  affecting  the  value  of  our  currency  must 
be  considered  by  every  lender  and  borrower,  by  every 
buyer  and  seller,  we  cannot  look  for  settled  times  and 
old-fashioned  prosperity.  Commerce  hears  the  threats 
of  the  canvass,  and  contemplated  enterprises  are  aban 
doned.  The  capitalist  hordes  his  money.  The  manu 
facturer  limps  along  on  half  time.  The  laborer  suffers, 
and  everybody  stands  in  an  attitude  of  waiting.  Silver 
has  been  re  monetized.  Upon  this  question  we  had  much 
heated  controversy.  The  West  and  South,  without  dis 
tinction  of  party,  antagonized  the  East,  and  won.  The 
silver  dollar  of  412*^  grains — a  full  legal  tender — is  a 
hard  fact.  Let  the  controversy  end.  .  .  .  Whatever  our 
views  on  the  question  were  when  it  was  an  open  question, 
in  the  interest  of  financial  tranquillity  let  us  take  the  law 
as  it  is,  and  say  stare  dccisis. —  [Speech  delivered  at  Rich 
mond,  Ind.,  Aug.  9,  i878.] 

Fiat  Heresy. 

In  what  I  have  said  thus  far,  I  have  been  speaking  to 
those  who  hold  that  a  specie  basis  for  our  currency  is 
desirable.  But  we  have  a  new  candidate  for  popular 

favor  in  what  is  called  the  "  fiat "  dollar It  (fiat 

dollar)  is  not  a  greenback,  unless  light  is  darkness.  I 
have  always  been  an  advocate  and  friend  of  the  greenback 
currency.  As  a  soldier,  I  hailed  it  in  common  with  all 
my  comrades  as  an  ally  of  freedom,  a  friend  of  the  flag, 
u  reinforcement  that  made  victory  possible,  and  valor  and 


^  POLITICIAN.  28 1 

dai  ing  fruitful.  It  had  but  one  infirmity — it  was  not  a 
par  dollar — it  was  depreciated.  The  promise  it  bore  on 
its  face  was  not  kept.  From  this  infirmity  every  true 
friend  of  that  currency  desired  that  it  might  be  recovered. 
We  differed  as  to  what  tonics  should  be  used,  as  to  when 
the  invalid  should  leave  his  couch.  .  .  .  But  let  us  trace 
a  little  more  particularly  the  differences  between  the 
"fiat"  dollar  and  the  greenback.  The  greenback,  in 
common  with  every  bank  note  any  of  you  have  ever 
seen,  contains  a  promise  to  pay  dollars.  It  reads,  the 
United  States  will  pay  to  bearer  one  dollar  on  demand. 
None  of  you  would  take  bank  paper  or  the  paper  of  an 
individual  that  did  not  contain  a  promise  to  pay.  And 
its  value  is  measured  by  your  faith  and  your  neighbor's 
faith,  that*the  promise  will  be  kept.  The  "  fiat "  dollar  is 
to  contain  no  promise  to  pay,  but  in  its  stead  we  are  to 
have  a  "  fiat,"  or  proclamation.  It  would  run  in  its  sim 
plest  form  thus :  "  This  is  a  dollar,"  or  if  that  formula  is 
too  brief,  some  decoration  might  be  added,  thus :  "  Hail 
Columbia !  This  is  a  dollar,"  or  "  E  Pluribus  Unum  ! 
This  is  ten  dollars."  Or  for  the  pious  it  might  read : 
"  In  God  we  trust  to  make  this  a  dollar,"  and  the  holder 
would  mentally  add  :  "  For  He  only  can."  For  it  is  cer 
tain  that  nothing  short  of  the  "  fiat "  of  Him  who  made 
the  world  from  nothing  can  make  such  a  bit  of  paper 
worth  one  hundred  cents.  The  greenback  is  a  child  of 
promise.  The  "  fiat  "  would  be  a  waif,  a  stray,  a  nobody's 
child.  But,  say  these  men  who  claim  for  our  Congress 
creative  power,  we  will  pass  a  law  making  these  "  fiat " 
dollars  legal  tender  for  all  debts,  public  and  private.  If 
you  did  your  law  would  need,  as  between  individuals, 
the  sanction  of  judicial  approval.  If  the  courts  held 
your  legal  tender  fiat  act  unconstitutional,  as  thef  cer 
tainly  would,  it  would  hardly  pay  the  rag  picker  to  gather 
from  the  defrauded  poor  your  fiat  dollars.  Congress  has 
power  by  the  Constitution  to  coin  money,  but  this  is  not 
coined.  It  has  power  to  borrow  money,  but  that  implies 
a  promise  to  pay,  while  neither  in  the  law  creating  it  nor 
in  the  fiat  paper  itself  will  you  admit  any  promise  to  pay. 
.  .  .  But  if  the  legal  tender  qualities  could  be  given 


282  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

to  this  new  species  of  money  (the  fiat  dollar)  that  would 
not  make  it  a  par  dollar,  or  a  dollar  of  any  fixed  value. 
It  would  enable  every  corporation  and  manufacturing 
company  in  the  land,  every  person  employing  labor,  to 
buy  tip  this  cheap  money  and  pay  it  out  at  par  to  their 
employees  for  the  last  month's  wages.  But  when  those 
laborers  shall  go  to  the  merchant  with  their  cheap  fiat 
money  to  buy  bread  or  meat  for  their  families — where  is 
the  law  that  can  force  that  merchant  to  give  as  much 
flour  for  a  fiat  dollar  as  for  a  greenback  or  gold  dollar? 
He  will  only  give  the  value  of  the  dollar  offered,  and  if 
that  value  is  uncertain  or  fluctuating,  he  will  probably 
give  less  than  its  present  value,  out  of  a  fear  that  it  may 
further  depreciate  on  his  hands.  Labor  is  always  sold 
on  credit.  Flour  and  meat  and  shoes  may  be,  and  are,  to 
the  poor,  sold  for  cash.  But  labor  cannot  be  sold  in  that 
way.  Labor  is  a  matter  of  hours,  of  days,  of  weeks ; 
pay  comes  at  the  end  of  the  day  or  week  or  month.  It 
has  been  estimated  by  competent  persons  that  on  any 
given  day  there  are  owing  $120,000,000  to  laboring  men 
and  women  for  wages.  Do  these  want  to  be  paid  in 
14  cheap  money  ?  "  And  yet  that  is  the  base  use  to  which 
such  money  is  always  first  put.  These  wages  have  been 
earned  on  a  gold  basis.  Working  men  and  women,  do 
you  agree  that  wages  shall  be  paid  in  cheap  fiat  dollars  ? 
I  affirm  it  to  be  clear  to  any  man  who  will  think,  that  the 
money  of  the  laboring  man  ought  to  be  real  money — not 
spook  money — not  "  materialized  demand,"  as  one  of  the 
ablest  advocates  of  fiat  money  has  described  it,  but  a 
promise  that  it  will  on  demand  materialize  into  shining 
gold  and  silver  dollars.  The  dollar  he  contracts  for  at 
the  beginning  of  the  month  when  his  wages  are  named 
ought '  to  be  the  dollar  he  receives  at  the  end  of  the 
month.  Money  must  be  very  cheap  before  it  can  be 
picked  up  in  the  streets,  so  cheap  that  it  will  hardly  be 
worth  stooping  for.  Short  of  that  you  can  get  it  only 
by  giving  something  for  it,  labor  or  property.  If  you 
get  in  exchange  full  value  in  cheap  money  you  have 
more  nominal  money,  but  are  you  any  richer  than  if  you 
had  got  full  value  in  good  money  ?  The  probability  is 


THE    POLITICIAN. 


28; 


that  the  next  day  you  will  be  poorer — for  the  tendency 
of  cheap  money  is  to  cheapen.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  the  legal  tender  quality  and  the  quality  of  being  re 
ceivable  for  customs  and  internal  taxes  would  give  some 
value  to  anything,  however  worthless  in  itself,  but  not  a 
certain  or  fixed  value.  The  quality  of  being  legal  tender, 
aided  by  the  promise  on  its  face  to  pay,  could  not  keep 
the  greenback  at  par.  Nothing  but  convertibility  into 
coin  can  do  that  for  any  paper  money."— [Speech  deliv 
ered  at  Richmond,  Ind.,  Aug.  9,  1878.] 

THE  TARIFF. 

The  next  national  Democratic  platform  will  not  declare 
for  a  tariff  for  revenue  only.     Indiana  is  not  the  only- 
State  where  such  a  declaration  would   be  prejudjcial  to 
Democratic  success.     In   the   South,  Virginia,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  and  Tennessee  are  already  awakening  to  the 
benefits  of  diversified  industries.     No  longer  content  to 
raise  cotton  for  Massachusetts,  they  are  spinning  it  in 
sight  of  the  fields  where   it  grew,  and  are  successfully 
competing  with  the  East  in  the  markets  of  the  West. 
The  vast  beds  of  coal  and  iron  in  their  mountains  have 
been  opened.     Alabama  already  has   her  Birmingham, 
and  boasts  of  her  ability  to   make   iron    cheaper  than 
Pennsylvania.     The  industrial  question  threatens  to  dom 
inate  the  race  question,  and  that  bodes  no  good  to  the 
Democratic  party  in   the   South.     The  Western  States 
are  no  longer  purely  agricultural  States,  exchanging  then- 
wheat  for  New  England  goods.     When  the  Cobden  Club 
makes  its  old  appeal  to  the  West  in  behalf  of  British 
-oods,  it  does  not  speak  as  formerly  to  a  section  having 
but  one  great  industry.     The  furnace,  the   rolling-mill, 
the  machine-shop,  the  woollen  and  cotton-mill  have  come 
West  to  grow  up  with  the  country.     In  1850  Ohio  had 
only  $29,000,000  invested    in  manufacturing;    in    1880 
she    had    $189,000,000.     Then    Indiana    had    less    than 
$8,000,000;   in   1880  she  had  over  $65,000,000.     Then 
Illinois  -had  $6,QOQ,OOO ;  in  1 880  she  had  over  $  1 40,000,000. 


284  BENJAMiN    HARRISON. 

Iowa  then  had  $1,200,000;  in  18*80  she  had  $33,978,000. 
The  total  value  of  the  products  of  manufacture  of  these 
four  States  in  1850  was  only  $101,000,000;  for  1880  it 
was  $982,207,000.  The  power  of  Cobden  Club  tracts 
over  the  mind  of  a  farmer  diminishes  in  proportion  to  his 
nearness  to  a  manufacturing  centre.  For  in  that  propor 
tion  he  realizes  the  benefit  of  a  home  market  One  that 
not  only  takes  the  staple  products  of  his  farm,  but  its 
more  perishable  products  that  cannot  reach  a  distant 
market.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  tariff  question,  as  we 
have  it  in  American  politics,  is  not  in  its  ultimate  state 
ment  a  question  as  to  what  duty  shall  be  levied  on  this 
or  that  article  of  import.  The  broader  question  must  be 
settled  first  whether  we  may  and  should  in  fixing  these 
duties  so  adjust  them  as  to  protect  American  industries. 
Whether  we  should  do  that  of  a  deliberate  purpose,  or 
should  leave  these  industries  to  the  accidents  or  "  inci 
dents  "  of  a  tariff  only  designed  for  revenue.  Mr.  Voor- 
hees  is  reported  in  the  newspapers  to  have  said  that  the 
tariff  plank  in  the  Indiana  State  platform  of  last  year  de 
clared  "  For  a  revenue  tariff,  with  incidental  protection, 
designed  to  foster  our  industries."  There  is  a  vast  deal 
of  undesigned  incidental  nonsense  in  such  a  declaration. 
A  leading  Democratic  paper  aptly  described  this  sort  of 
thing  "As  a  tariff  for  revenue  only,  with  a  protection 
attachment  to  catch  votes."  The  tariff  plank  in  the  Ohio 
platform,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  and  which  has 
been  accepted  in  a  good  many  other  States  as  the  correct 
"  form,"  is  only  another  example  of  a  platform  trick  in 
tended  to  conceal  and  not  to  declare  the  purposes  of  the 
party.  As  I  have  said,  it  did  not  reach  Iowa  in  time,  and 
you  blundered  into  an  honest  expression  of  Democratic 
doctrine — "A  tariff  for  revenue  only."  The  Democrats 
of  Iowa  have  courage.  I  think  this  virtue  is  the  fruit  of 
adversity.  They  have  never  found  it  necessary  to  stop 
and  consider  whether  this  or  that  declaration  of  princi 
ple  might  lose  the  State.  It  was  lost  before  the  platform 
was  reported.  You  want  a  tariff  for  revenue  only.  You 
would  have  Congress  gradually  but  persistently  reduce 
duties  till  every  vestige  of  protection  to  our  home  indus- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  28$ 

trie-  *s  eliminated.  You  would  give  our  persecuted  in 
dustries  no  rest.  The  only  concession  you  will  make  to 
them  is  that  they  shall  be  led  down  an  easy  incline  to 
death.  You  will  advise  a  slow  poison.  Your  platform 
does  not  hold  out  any  delusive  hope  of  "  incidental  pro 
tection."  It  boldly  says,  we  will  have  no  regard  what 
ever  to  the  necessities  of  any  American  industry  or  to 
the  wages  of  the  American  laborer.  Our  sole  object  will 
be  revenue ;  and  if  we  can  get  more  revenue  out  of  a 
given  article  by  making  a  rate  that  will  close  every 
American  mill  producing  it,  and  give  our  entire  market 
to  the  British  manufacturer,  that  shall  be  the  rate.  This 
doctrine  takes  no  account  of  workmen  and  workwomen. 
If  our  mills  are  kept  running  these  must  accept  the  lower 
wages  of  European  operatives. 

I  do  not  stop  to  furnish  statistics  of  the  comparative 
wages  of  labor  here  and  in  Europe.  They  are  abundant 
and  well  authenticated.  I  want  no  other  evidence  that 
wages  and  ail  the  other  conditions  of  labor  are  better 
here  than  in  Europe  than  this :  the  laboring  men  and 
women  of  Europe  are  coming  this  way,  and  they  come 
to  stay.  Millions  of  earnings  have  gone  back  to  the  old 
countries  to  pay  the  passage  money  of  friends  hither,  but 
the  steerage  of  the  returning  vessel  is  empty.  The  Irish 
man,  German,  and  Scotchman  know  a  land  that  has 
light  and  life  in  it  for  a  laborer  as  well  as  the  bird  knows 
the  land  of  summer.  I  do  not  say  that  labor  has  its  full 
reward  here.  I  do  not  deny  that  the  avarice  of  the  mill- 
owner  too  often  clips  the  edge  of  comfort  from  the  wages 
of  his  operative.  I  regret  that  the  legislator  has  so  little 
power  to  soften  the  rigors  of  avarice  or  to  save  the 
laborer  from  disastrous  competition  in  the  labor  market. 
But  in  spite  of  all  this,  I  do  affirm  that  there  is  more 
comfort  and  more  hope  for  a  laboring  man  or  woman  in 
this  country  than  in  any  other. 

Will  it  help  the  laborer  to  bring  our  tariff  duties  to  a 
"  revenue  only  "  basis  ?  On  which  side  is  his  interest  ? 
Every  honest  and  intelligent  advocate  of  free  trade  must 
admit  that  if  we  abandon  our  system  of  protective  duties 
the  wages  of  labor  must  be  reduced.  The  trade  unions 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

frequently  Concede  a  reduction  of  wages  when  the 
product  of  their  labor  declines  in  price.  Now  these 
tariff  reformers  tell  us  that  the  price  of  all  competing 
American  products  is  enhanced  by  the  full  amount  of  the 
duty  laid  on  the  foreign  article.  A  reduction  of  duty 
then  involves  a  corresponding  reduction  of  the  price  of 
the  product  of  our  mills.  The  laborer  in  the  mill  must 
accept  less  wages.  But  it  is  said  that  the  reduction  in 
wages,  which  some  of  these  gentlemen  state  at  twenty-five 
per  cent,  is  to  be  made  up  to  the  workmen  by  the 
cheaper  rate  at  which  he  will  obtain  the  necessaries  of 
life.  The  loss  of  one-fourth  of  his  wages  is  a  very  hard 
fact.  The  laborer  knows  what  extra  pinching  that  means. 
The  compensating  advantage  held  out  to  him  in  the  way 
of  a  reduced  cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life  is  a  school 
man's  theory.  The  great  bulk  of  his  living,  three-fifths, 
in  fact — his  meat,  and  bread,  and  house-rent — have  no 
relation  to  tariff  duties.  The  laborer  is  asked  to  render 
at  least  one-fourth  of  his  wages  that  he  may  possibly 
save  two  dollars  on  his  coat.  A  tariff  "for  revenue 
only "  means  less  work  and  lower  wages.  Let  every 
workingman  take  that  fact  home  with  him.  This  is  not 
only  a  question  for  the  worker  in  mills,  but  on  the  farm 
and  on  the  street.  One  of  the  most  significant  things 
said  in  the  Senate  during  the  debate  on  the  tariff  bill  was 
this  by  Senator  Morgan,  of  Alabama:  "There  is  Bir 
mingham,  which  is  growing  up  in  great  prosperity;  but 
whether  it  is  going  to  add  a  dollar  to  the  wealth  of  Ala 
bama  is  a  problem.  If  Birmingham  is  to  raise  the  price 
of  farm  labor  all  over  the  State  twenty-five  cents  a  day, 
or  something  like  that,  the  farmers  will  have  to  give  up 
cotton  planting,  and  will  have  to  stop,  or  else  it  will  have 
to  be  planted  entirely  on  the  hills  by  the  few  white  peo 
ple  who  arc  scattered  among  them  ;  or,  if  Birmingham  or 
any  other  industry  in  Alabama  is  to  draw  the  labor  fron, 
the  plantations,  T  do  not  see  how  we  are  to  conduct  oiu 
great  agricultural  enterprises.  I  shall  begin  to  believe 
after  a  while  that  it  is  more  of  a  curse  than  a  blessing  tc 
have  these  great  bastowments  of  coal  and  ir©n  in  the 
bosom  of  our  State." 


THE    POLITICIAN.  27 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  distinguished  Senator  doubts 
whether  Birmingham,  the  great  centre  of  the  iron  in 
dustry  in  his  State,  will  be  a  benefit  to  Alabama.  The 
higher  price  paid  for  skilled  labor  there  will  have  a  ten 
dency  to  raise  common  labor — the  black  man  in  the 
cotton-field  may  demand  higher  wages  for  his  day's  toil 
-and  so  the  Senator  fears  that  agriculture  may  suffer 
from  the  proximity  of  these  busy  centres  of  the  arts.  It  is 
a  short-sighted  view.  The  manufacturing  industries  build 
up  our  cities,  and  the  cities  cannot  wali  in  the  influences 
which  enhance  the  value  of  property.  They  are  not  free 
cities,  but  must  pay  tribute  to  the  outlying  fields  and  to 
the  farmer  who  tills  them. 

Every  prosperous  city  in  Iowa  sends  out  from  it  an 
influence  that  enhances  the  value  of  the  farm  and  the 
products  of  the  farm.  It  brings  to  a  circle  of  these 
farms  a  market  which  may  be  reached  by  the  wagon  and 
delivers  the  farmer  from  the  tribute  of  the  common  car 
rier.  We  need  not  have  any  fear  that  wages  will  any 
where  be  too  high.  We  have  a  common  interest  that  a 
margin  for  comfort  may  be  added  to  the  necessaries  of 
life.  I  am  sure  that  none  of  us  are  so  anxious  for  cheap 
goods  that  we  would  be  willing  to  admit  "  the  spoils  of 
the  poor"  into  our  houses.  It  seems  strange  that  we 
should  find  a  party  among  us  opposing  the  protective 
principle  when  even  the  provinces  of  Great  Britain  are 
adopting  it  and  finding  increased  prosperity. 

France  and  Germany  still  embody  this  idea  in  their 
legislation.  There  may  be  fair  ground  for  debate  as  to 
the  rate  which  particular  articles  of  import  should  bear, 
or  as  to  whether  this  or  that  article  should  not  be  on  the 
free  list.  Republicans  differ  upon  such  questions,  but 
that  our  legislation  should  discriminate  in  favor  of  our 
own  country,  her  industries  and  laboring  people,  ought 
not  to  be  questioned.  I  shall  not  stop  to  tire  you  with 
statistics  as  to  the  effect  of  tariff  duties  upon  the  cost  of 
our  domestic  products.  The  pretext  that  these  are  en 
hanced  in  price  to  the  consumer  by  the  amount  of  the 
tariff  duty  laid  upon  similar  products  has  been  too  often 
exposed.  If  you  will  take  any  market  report  from  one 


*88  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

of  your  newspapers  and  examine  the  quotations  on  any 
manufacture  of  cotton,  woolen  or  iron  and  th-^i  look  at 
the  tariff  duty  imposed  on  these  articles  you  will  expose 
for  yourselves  the  falsity  of  this  pretense.  The  effect  of 
American  competition  has  almost  invariably  been  to  re 
duce  prices.  It  is  this  competition  only  that  emancipates 
us  from  the  power  of  the  foreign  manufacturer  to  dictate 
prices  in  our  midst.  Doubtless  you  are  unaware  of  the 
fearful  burdens  under  which  you  rest  until  some  Demo 
cratic  orator  explains  them  to  you.  Things  seem  to  you 
to  be  cheap  enough  and  the  exchanges  which  you  are 
able  to  make  of  your  labor  for  foreign  products  seem  to 
be  made  on  favorable  terms.  Certainly  they  are  more 
favorable  than  they  used  to  be.  About  a  year  ago  I 
happened  in  one  of  our  Indiana  towns  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  conversing  with  one  of  the  old  citizens  who 
had  been  a  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  store  in  a  very  early  day 
in  the  history  of  our  State,  when  the  surplus  product  of 
our  lands  all  went  to  the  New  Orleans  market  by  flat- 
boat.  He  told  me  that  he  recalled  well  the  time  when 
the  first  Lowell  print  calicoes  came  to  the  store.  Before 
that  everything  had  been  British  or  French.  He  re 
called  the  price  at  which  these  things  were  sold.  Calico 
was  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents  per  yard,  and  chickens 
were  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents  per  dozen.  It  took 
eight  dozen  chickens  to  buy  a  calico  dress,  and  the  pat 
tern  was  scanter  then  than  it  is  now.  If  we  look  at  the 
price-list  of  steel  rails  or  of  other  manufactures  of  iron 
or  of  tile,  or  fabrics  of  woolen,  one  shall  find  that  we  are 
able  now  to  make  exchanges  of  our  farm  products  for 
these  at  more  satisfactory  rates  than  formerly.  But, 
some  one  says,  I  can  buy  the  same  article  of  British 
manufacture  cheaper  abroad.  Well,  if  that  is  true  now, 
has  the  fact  that  our  American  mills  have  occupied  so 
largely  our  home  market  nothing  to  do  with  it?  Are 
you  absolutely  sure  that  the  price  would  remain  the  same 
if  these  mills  were  closed  ?  Are  you  sure  it  would  not 
reach  higher  figures  than  the  price  of  our  domestic 
products  now? 

I  hr.ve  said  that  there  was  no  unity  of  thought  or  pur- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  28q 

pose  or  principle  in  the  Democratic  party  on  this  ques 
tion.  There  was  no  consistency  of  action  on  the  subject 
in  Congress.  With  very  few  exceptions  Democratic 
Senators  voted  for  high  protective  duties  upon  every 
article  in  the  production  of  which  their  several  States 
were  interested.  I  will  prove  this  by  the  evidence  of 
Democratic  Senators.  On  February  1 4th,  Senator  Gor 
man,  of  Maryland,  said  :  "  There  is  not  a  Democrat  on 
this  floor  who  has  not  voted  for  the  highest  possible 
protection  within  the  revenue  standard  for  the  interest 
of  his  State,  and  the  lowest  possible  duty  upon  every 
article  that  his  people  consume  and  do  not  either  raise 
or  manufacture." 

What  an  interesting  picture  of  Democrats  by  a  Demo 
crat — each  voting  high  protective  duties  upon  articles 
of  import  that  come  into  competition  with  products  of 
his  own  State,  and  "  the  lowest  possible  duties  "  upon 
all  articles  not  produced  in  his  State.  General  Hancock 
was  right.  The  tariff  is  a  "local  question  "  to  Democratic 
statesmen.  In  the  same  speech  Senator  Gorman  fur 
ther  says  on  the  same  subject :  "  The  policy  exists 
all  the  way  through  from  Texas  to  Maine.  You  will 
find  my  friend  from  Texas  voting  for  a  duty  upon  cattle 
to  prevent  them  from  coming  in  from  Mexico  in  compe 
tition  with  the  cattle  of  Texas.  He  would  not  put  them 
on  the  free  list,  the  very  staff  of  life.  He  would  not  put 
on  the  free  list  wheat,  corn,  or  cattle,  and  my  friend  from 
Alabama  would  join  him  in  that  vote.  My  distinguished 
friend  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Vance),  who  has  fought 
nearly  every  section  in  this  bill,  and  has  become  as  near 
a  free  trader  as  any  gentleman  I  ever  listened  to,  is  in 
favor  of  taxing  rice,  and  is  in  favor  of  keeping  a  tax 
upon  turpentine.  He  himself  proposed  to  take  from  the 
free  list  the  wooden  pipe  the  poor  man  smokes  and  place 
it  on  the  taxable  list."  Let  me  call  another  Democratic 
witness.  On  the  1 5th  February  Mr.  Voorhees  said: 

"  Rice  is  a  product  of  one  or  two  States  in  this  coun 
try.  I  am  not  unfavorable  to  any  protection  which  the 
Senators  from  those  States  desire  to  have  upon  it.  The 
value  of  rice  imported  into  this  country  in  the  last  year 
JQ  7 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

was  $1,417,437.84.  The  duty  collected  on  that  rice  was 
$1,581,338.05,  being  a  larger  amount  of  money  paid  for 
the  privilege  of  importing  rice  into  this  country  than  the 
value  of  the  rice  itself.  Yet  the  gentlemen,  with  the 
exception  of  perhaps  one  or  two  from  the  States  that 
raise  rice,  have  stood  here  for  nearly  one  solid  month 
arraigning  every  interest  that  was  affected  by  the  whole 
tariff  bill  from  one  schedule  to  another  from  end  to  end. 
The  rate  of  duty  for  the  importation  of  rice  is  in^ 
per  cent.  Yet  I  have  heard  me  n  talk  here  by  the  hour 
about  glass,  about  iron,  and  about  coal,  as  if  the  very 
horrors  of  the  Inquisition  wer o  upon  them,  and  I  find 
them  meek  and  mild  and  gentle  as  sucking  doves  when 
it  comes  to  the  question  of  duty  on  rice  and  glad  to 
stay  away  from  the  debate — glad  to  stay  out  of  it — and 
do  not  say  a  single  word.  Glad  to  let  others  besides 
themselves  settle  the  protection  on  their  rice." 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  sixteen  Democratic  Sen 
ators,  out  of  twenty-six  voting,  voted  against  a  reduction 
of  the  d<uty  on  rice,  and  that  Senator  Vance  was  one  of 
them. 

And  now  let  me  give  you  a  .specimen  of  the  views  of 
two  leading  Democrats  of  Indiana.  In  one  of  his  last 
speeches  in  the  Senate,  February  15,  1 88 1,  Joseph  E. 
McDonald  said : 

"  The  Democratic  party  has  always  taken  this  view  of 
the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  has  opposed 
the  so-called  protection  policy  as  unconstitutional  as  well 
as  unwise,  and  especially  in  its  platform  of  1876,  'de 
manded  that  all  custom  house  taxation  should  be  only 
for  revenue.'  The  reassertion  of  this  principle  in  the 
platform  of  1880  it  is  true  has  been  denounced  in  this 
chamber  as  a  '  remarkable  blunder/  and  it  has  been 
charged  here  and  elsewhere  that  the  assertion  of  it  had 
caused  the  defeat  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  last 
Presidential  election.  .  .  .  Mr.  President,  the  Democratic 
party  was  not  defeated  because  it  advocated  a  constitu 
tional  tariff  and  opposed  the  doctrine  of  protection,  and  I 
trust  on  this  subject  it  will  '  take  no  step  backward.'  " 

Mr.  Voorhees,  in  his  letter  to  Bayless  Hanna,  October 
20,  1 88 1,  said: 


THE    POLITICIAN.  29! 

"The  platform  of  1880  was  a  violent  departure  on  the 
subject  of  the  tariff  and  has  no  precedent  in  the  history 
of  Democratic  platforms  adopted  in  National  conventions. 
Have  examined  them  all.  The  declaration  of  '  a  tariff 
for  revenue  only '  was  never  before  made  in  a  National 
Democratic  convention,  and  is  a  burlesque  on  common 
sense.  .  .  . 

"  We  lost  Indiana  in  the  last  three  weeks  of  the  cam 
paign  of  1880  on  the  absurd  issue  made  by  our  platform 
on  this  subject." 

And  again  in  his  debate  with  Senator  Vance  (Cong. 
Record,  February  17,  1883,  p.  17)  he  said:  "I  stand 
here  declaring  that  I  am  a  protectionist  for  every  interest 
which  I  am  sent  here  by  my  constituents  to  protect." 

Now,  my  Democratic  friends,  is  not  somebody  cheated 
when  these  two  views  of  the  tariff  are  blended  in  one 
platform  ?  Mr.  Hendricks  in  his  speech  at  Council 
Bluffs  read  the  Iowa  and  Ohio  platforms  of  this  year,  and 
the  Indiana  platform  of  last  year,  and  said :  "  I  have 
referred  to  the  recent  declarations  of  these  States  as 
entitled  to  great  weight  and  consideration.  Their  popu 
lation  aggregates  more  than  six  million,  and  in  the  pur 
suit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  their  production 
can  hardly  be  enumerated.  The  Democracy  of  Virginia 
are  in  harmony  with  these  States."  Now,  if  the  Virginia 
Democracy  are  in  harmony  with  these  three  platform 
declarations  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  it  must  be  that 
the  platforms  are  harmonious  with  each  other.  Mr. 
Hendricks  meant  to  convey  that  impression.  And  yet 
no  one  knows  better  than  Mr.  Hendricks  that  the  Iowa 
platform  which  declares  for  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  only,  by 
a  gradual  but  persistent  reduction,"  would  have  been 
impossible  in  Ohio  and  Indiana.  He  knew  that  the 
Ohio  platform  which  demands  a  tariff  so  adjusted  as, 
among  other  things,  to  encourage  productive  industries 
at  home  and  afford  just  compensation  to  labor,  is  no 
more  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  only  "  than  his  talk  was  that  of 
a  candid  man.  The  Indiana  platform  of  last  year  quite 
as  distinctly  admitted  the  idea  that  a  tariff  was  not  to  be 
"  for  revenue  only,"  but  was  to  be  so  adjusted  as  to  "  pro- 


292  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

mote  the  industries  of  the  country  and  the  interests  of 
labor/'  When  Mr.  Hendricks  says  these  three  platforms 
mean  the  same  thing  he  delivers  a  heavy  blow  at  the 
intelligence  of  Mr.  Voorhees,  who  says  that  the  Iowa 
platform  is  an  absurdity,  and  that  the  Indiana  platform  is 
the  work  of  his  own  hand.  Mr.  Voorhees  claims  that  the 
Indiana  platform  allows  a  Democrat  to  say  as  he  said  in 
the  Senate,  without  inconsistency,  "  I  am  a  protectionist 
for  every  interest  that  I  am  sent  here  by  my  constituents 
to  protect,"  and  to  vote  for  the  highest  duties  on  glass 
and  rice.  But  Mr.  Voorhees  is  not  for  the  "  old  ticket," 
and  this  may  account  for  Mr.  Hendricks'  indifference  to 
his  feelings. 

A  great  many  leading  Democrats  talk  about  "inci 
dental  protection,"  as  if  that  sort  of  protection  was  a  very 
good  thing.  They  are  careful  to  say  that  they  would 
give  cur  industries  the  full  benefit  of  the  beneficent  ac 
cident. 

Now,  if  they  really  rejoice  in  this  chance  benefit,  why 
not  give  the  benefit  of  a  purpose — by  design — and  get 
some  credit  for  good  intentions  ?  I  can  see  no  reason  in 
them  unless  it  be  held  with  Mr.  McDonald,  that  it  is 
unconstitutional  to  consider  the  protective  effects  of  a 
duty  in  advance,  or  that  it  is  a  good  thing  but  must 
come,  like  the  whiskey  to  Lincoln's  temperance  man, 
"  unbeknownst  to  him."  I  would  not  have  a  tariff  for 
revenue  only — nor  for  protection  only.  I  would  not 
have  either  the  revenue  or  the  protection  "  incidental." 
— [Speech  reported  in  Iowa  State  Register,  Oct.  22, 

1883!] 

Free  Trade  and  Working-men. 

I  believe  that  tariff  duties  should  have  regard  not  only 
to  the  revenue  to  be  raised,  but  to  the  interest  of  our 
American  producers,  and  especially  of  our  American 
workmen.  It  is  clear  to  my  mind  that  free  trade,  or  a 
tariff  for  revenue,  or  for  revenue  only — and  these  last  are 
essentially  the  same  thing — involves  necessarily  a  sudden 
and  severe  cut  in  the  wages  of  the  working  men  and 
women  in  this  country.  I  know  it  is  said  that  his  dimin- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  293 

ished  wages  will  have  an  enlarged  purchasing  power — • 
that  after  he  has  submitted  to  a  cut  of  from  15  to  30  per 
cent,  in  his  wages,  what  he  has  left  will  still  buy  as  much 
as  before.  But  all  this  is  speculation  ;  the  workman  has 
no  indemnifying  bond,  only  a  philosopher's  forecast.  The 
question  must  be  settled  by  the  intelligent  workingmen 
of  the  country.  If  they  do  not  want  protective  duties, 
then  they  will  go.  If  they  believe  that  it  is  good  policy 
for  them  that  an  increased  amount  of  the  work  necessary 
to  supply  the  American  market  should  be  done  in  foreign 
shops,  by  foreign  workmen,  then  it  will  come'  to  pass. 
Many  of  them  have  thought  upon  the  question  and  have 
reached  a  conclusion.  During  last  winter  I  received 
petitions  from  a  large  number  of  the  Knights  of  Labor 
assemblies  of  this  State,  protesting  against  the  passage 
of  the  "  free  ship"  bill.  They  said  that  in  their  opinion 
our  ships  should  be  built  in  American  shops  by  American 
workmen,  and  not  on  the  Clyde  by  British  workmen  ;  and 
when  I  said  in  response  that  I  agreed  with  them,  several 
of  the  assemblies  sent  me  a  vote  of  thanks. 

All  that  I  have  said  relates  only  to  the  question  whether, 
in  framing  a  tariff  bill,  we  shall  think  of  nothing  but  the 
revenue  to  result,  as  the  Democratic  party  contends,  or 
whether  we  shall  also  consider  the  effect  of  particular 
duties  upon  the  prosperity  of  our  American  industries ; 
whether  protection  shall  be  intelligent,  of  design,  or  for 
tuitous  and  accidental.  I  stand  with  my  party  for  the 
former.  But  in  saying  this  I  am  not  committed  to  specific 
rates,  or  to  the  existing  law  in  all  its  details.  I  am  ready 
to  consider  any  necessary  changes — reforms,  if  you  please 
to  call  them  such — but  it  will  be  in  the  light  of  the  gen 
eral  principles  I  have  announced. — [Speech,  Indianapolis, 
Sept.  15,  1886.] 

Republican  View  of  a  Tariff. 

The  Republican  party,  on  the  other  hand,  holds  to  the 
doctrine  that  in  fixing  tariff  rates  the  effect  of  the  rate 
proposed  upon  American  industries  and  upon  the  wages 
of  American  workmen  should  be  carefully  and  kindly 


294  BENTJAMIN    HARRISON. 

considered.  We  do  not  think  that  the  shutting  up  of 
shops  or  the  extinguishment  of  industries  is  a  pleasant 
work.  We  have  not  reached  the  plane  of  that  cold  phi 
losophy  which  refuses  to  recognize  a  closer  relationship 
and  a  higher  duty  to  the  American  workman  and  his 
family  than  to  the  English.  The  foundations  of  our  na 
tional  security  and  life  are  not  of  stone — the  good  will 
and  good  conscience  of  our  voting  population  support  the 
stately  fabric.  Contentment  is  a  condition  of  good  will, 
and  has  an  important  relation  to  a  good  conscience. 
Good  wages  promote  contentment.  The  cry  of  the  free 
trader  is  for  a  cheaper  coat,  an  English  coat,  and  he  does 
not  seem  to  care  that  this  involves  a  cheapening  of  the 
men  and  women  who  spin,  and  weave,  and  cut,  and  stitch. 
He  may  even  deny  this.  But  let  one  of  these  gentlemen 
whose  lives  have  been  so  favored  that  they  have  never 
had  any  "  personal  contact  with  business  "  go  into  any 
great  manufacturing  establishment  and  tell  the  grimy 
workmen  that  the  product  of  their  work  is  to  be  reduced 
25  per  cent,  in  the  market.  He  will  see  that  the  men  who 
have  had  a  very  rough  "personal  contact  with  business" 
at  once  understand  that  the  hope  of  better  wages  is  gone, 
and  that  lower  wages  are  imminent.  It  is  no  answer  to 
say  that  the  manufacturer  ought  to  stand  the  reduction 
himself.  Perhaps  in  some  cases  he  ought.  In  other  cases 
he  could  not  without  producing  his  goods  at  a  loss.  I 
may  admit  that  selfishness  is  the  genius  that  presides  in 
the  mill  office,  but  even  this  evil  genius  can  be  made  to 
serve  the  workman  when  the  product  of  the  mill  is  in 
demand  at  good  prices.  I  do  not  say  that  our  American 
workman  gets  all  the  benefit  he  ought  to  enjoy  from  a 
protective  tariff,  but  I  do  believe  that  his  condition  and 
that  of  his  family  is  vastly  better  than  it  would  be  under 
a  free-trade  or  tariff-for-revenue-only  policy.  It  is  notice 
able  that  even  the  McDonald  school  of  Democrats  take 
great  comfort  in  what  they  call  the  "  incidental  protec 
tion,"  which  a  tariff  for  revenue  will  afford  to  our  indus 
tries  and  to  our  workmen.  They  admit  the  benefit  of 
protection,  but  insist  that  it  must  be  an  accident.  As  I 
said  once  before.,  we,  on  the  other  hand,  prefer  that  the 


THE    POLITICIAN.  295 

good  shall  be   designed,  and   so    intelligent. — [Speech, 
Indianapolis,  Aug.  23,  1884.] 

Democratic  Revision  of  Tariff. 

I  suspect  I  am  a  poor  political  economist.  But  when  I 
hear  men  talking,  now,  like  ex-Senator  McDonald,  of  the 
great  benefit  that  is  to  come  to  our  people  when  Demo 
crats  revise  the  tariff,  especially  in  the  shape  of  a  cheap 
coat,  I  fail  to  find  myself  completely  in  sympathy  with 
him.  I  think  I  saw,  the  other  day,  in  one  of  our  Indian 
apolis  papers,  a  good  overcoat  advertised  for  $1.87,  and 
it  must  be  a  pretty  mean  man  that  wants  to  get  one  for  a 
dollar. 

The  simple  fact  is,  gentlemen,  many  things  are  made 
and  sold  now  too  cheap,  for  I  hold  it  to  be  true  that  when 
ever  the  market  price  is  so  low  that  the  man  or  the  woman 
who  makes  an  article  cannot  get  a  fair  living  out  of  the 
making  of  it,  it  is  too  low. — [Speech,  Indianapolis,  Dec. 
20,  1887.] 


THE   LABOR   QUESTION. 

Protection  of  American  Labor. 

I  believe  that  a  large  majority  of  our  people — not 
themselves  wage-workers — sympathize  with  and  will 
give  their  aid  to  every  reform  calculated  to  make  the 
burdens  of  labor  lighter,  and  its  rewards  more  adequate. 
These,  added  to  the  vast  army  of  wage-workers,  can  and 
will  bring  on  in  orderly  procession  those  well-digested 
reforms  which  experience  and  study  have  suggested,  and 
will  yet  suggest.  A  contented  and  thrifty  working  class 
is  the  surest  evidence  of  national  health  and  the  best 
pledge  of  public  security.  The  men  who  fought  the 
war  for  the  Union  were  its  working  people.  It  was  true 
of  the  army  as  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven — not  many 
rich.  The  reforms  suggested  have  relation,  first,  to  the 
health  and  comfort  of  the  workman.  I  believe  the  law 


296  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

should  vigorously,  and  under  severe  penalties,  compel 
all  employers  of  labor  to  reduce  the  risk  to  health  and 
limb  to  the  lowest  practicable  limit.  Overcrowding-,  ill 
ventilation,  unhealthful  surroundings  should  be  made 
unlawful  and  unprofitable.  The  life  of  man  or  woman 
should  not  be  woven  into  a  fabric.  Every  appliance  for 
safety  should  be  exacted.  I  believe  that  the  wages  of 
the  laborer  should  be  given  such  preference  as  will 
secure  him  against  loss.  As  long  ago  as  1878,  in  a 
public  speech,  I  said  upon  this  subject:  "  If  any  railroad 
or  other  business  enterprise  cannot  earn  enough  to  pay 
the  labor  that  operates  it  and  the  interest  on  its  bonds, 
no  right-minded  man  can  hesitate  to  say  which  ought  to 
be  paid  first.  The  men  who  have  invested  money  in  the 
enterprise  or  loaned  money  on  its  securities  ought  to 
have  the  right  to  stop  the  business  when  net  earnings 
fail,  but  they  cannot  fairly  appropriate  the  earnings  of 
the  engineer,  or  brakeman  or  laborer." 

I  believe  the  law  should  require  the  prompt  payment 
of  wages  in  money.  I  believe  that  the  number  of 
working  hours  can,  in  most  of  our  industries,  be  reduced 
without  a  serious  loss  to  production,  and  with  great  gain 
to  the  health,  comfort  and  contentment  of  our  working 
classes.  I  advocated  and  voted  for  the  law  of  Congress 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  laborers  under  contracts 
made  abroad,  and  believe  that  such  legislation  is  just 
and  wise.  But  I  cannot  extend  this  discussion  further. 
The  recent  State  platform  of  our  party,  in  its  declarations 
on  this  subject,  meets  my  entire  approval.  The  labor 
reform  needs  only  to  trust  to  reason  and  fair  argument 
to  secure  success.  Its  two  worst  enemies  are  anarchy 
and  the  demagogue.  If  it  escapes  these  it  will  succeed. 
The  masses  of  our  people  are  disposed  to  be  kind,  just 
and  liberal — hospitable  to  reason  and  reform.  But  the 
majority  in  favor  of  law  and  public  order  is  overwhelming. 
Nothing  can  succeed  upon  the  line  of  lawlessness.  It  is 
the  most  hopeful  sign  that  attends  this  great  movement 
that  the  great  body  of  its  promoters  have  not  failed  to 
see  this  truth,  and  have  united  with  their  fellow-citizens 
in  denouncing  the  fierce  and  destructive  doctrines  of  the 


THE    POLITICIAN.  297 

anarchist  and  his  bloody  work. — [Speech,  Indianapolis, 
Sept.  15,  1886.] 

The  Republican  Party  and  the  Laboring  Man. 

The  Republican  party  has  given  to  the  laboring 
man  a  free  homestead  on  the  public  lands.  It  has 
emancipated  four  millions  of  laborers  from  slavery,  and 
brought  by  the  same  charter  free  labor  itself  to  an  honor 
it  could  not  attain  while  companioned  with  slavery.  In 
our  State  platform  several  other  reforms  within  the  scope 
of  State  legislation  are  proposed,  to  all  of  which  I  give 
my  hearty  approval.  Among  them  is  a  homestead  law, 
which  shall  secure  against  sale  or  execution  for  debt  the 
home  of  the  distressed  debtor,  and  preserve  to  his  family 
a  roof-tree  when  the  storm  of  adversity  breaks  upon 
them.  Another  direction  in  which  practical  relief  may 
be  given  to  large  classes  of  laboring  men  is  in  the  laws 
securing  and  enforcing  the  prompt  payment  of  wages. 
In  the  case  of  debts  owing  by  railroad  corporations,  the 
courts  have,  in  the  exercise  of  their  equity  power,  with 
out  legislation,  given  a  preference  over  mortgage  bonds 
to  labor  claims  accrued  within  six  months  before  the 
appointment  of  a  receiver.  The  equity  of  a  laborer  where 
wages  have  been  unjustly  withheld  for  seven  months  is 
certainly  not  weakened  by  his  added  month  of  waiting. 
There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  there  should  not 
be  given,  by  proper  legislation,  to  the  employes  of  all 
corporations  and  manufacturing  companies,  a  first  lien 
for  wages  due.  Such  a  law  might. not  be  operative  to 
the  full  against  existing  mortgages,  but  it  would  be  as  to 
all  future  liens.  Holders  of  mortgage  securities  would 
then  have  an  interest  to  see  that  wages  were  paid-,  while 
they  could  protect  themselves  against  the  mismanagement 
of  those  who  controlled  the  enterprise  by  making 
the  non-payment  of  these  labor  liens  a  cause  of  forfeiture 
in  the  mortgage,  entitling  the  mortgagee  to  foreclose.  If 
any  railroad  or  other  business  enterprise  cannot  earn 
enough  to  pay  the  labor  that  operates  it  and  the  interest 
on  its  bonds,  no  right-minded  man  can  hesitate  to  say 


298  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

which  ought  to  be  paid  first.  The  men  who  have  invested 
money  in  the  enterprise,  or  loaned  moriey  on  its  securi 
ties,  ought  to  have  the  right  to  stop  the  business  when 
net  earnings  fail,  but  they  cannot  honestly  appropriate 
the  earnings  of  the  engineer,  or  brakeman  or  laborer. 
When  a  court,  on  the  motion  of  the  bondholders,  seizes 
a  railroad  and  operates  it  by  a  receiver,  the  chancellor 
will  yield  nothing  for  interest  on  the  bonds  till  he  has 
paid  the  men  who  operate  the  road.  Why  should  there 
be  another  rule  for  a  railroad  president  ?  But  not  only 
should  payment  be  made  secure,  but  promptness  should 
be  enforced.  Great  wrong  is  often  done  by  delay  though 
ultimate  payment  may  be  certain.  The  laborer  is 
forced  to  buy  on  credit  at  enhanced  prices,  or  to  sell  his 
claim  at  a  heavy  discount.  This,  I  believe,  could  be 
remedied  by  legislation  prohibiting,  under  proper  penal 
ties,  the  diversion  of  earnings  to  other  purposes  until  the 
labor  roll  is  receipted.  To  such  reforms — and  these 
specifications  do  not  at  all  exhaust  the  list — the  Repub 
lican  party  is  pledged.  The  practical  knowledge  the 
laboring  man  has  of  the  evils  under  which  he  suffers 
should  be  reinforced  by  the  wisest  thought  of  those  who 
are  learned  in  political  economy  and  the  law.  Every  aid 
which  public  sentiment  and  the  law  can  give — without 
trenching  upon  constitutional  restrictions  or  the  rights  of 
others — waits  only  for  a  kindly  call.  But  it  will  not 
answer  to  the  summons  of  hate  and  violence. 

It  seems  to  me,  and  to  this  I  ask  the  serious  thought 
of  all  classes,  that  the  pressing  wants  of  the  times  are  : 
First,  that  lawlessness,  communism  in  all  its  forms, 
threats,  and  class  hatreds  shall  be  put  away  forever.  If 
the  need  of  this  is  more  urgent  to  one  class  than  another 
it  is  to  the  honest  laboring  man  who  is  out  of  work. 
Threats  and  fears  can  drive  money  out  of  active  employ 
ment  into  double-barred  safes  and  into  four  per  cent, 
bonds — only  security  and  confidence  can  call  it  back  to 
its  natural  partnership  and  labor.  Second,  that  we  put 
our  currency  on  an  honest  basis — where  those  who  buy 
and  sell  and  those  who  work  know  when  they  contract 
what  the  dollar  of  payment  is  to  be.  Third,  that  we  lift 


THE    POLITICIAN.  299 

up  our  eyes  towards  the  hills,  and  recognize  the  faint 
but  sure  signs  of  morning. — [Speech  at  Richmond,  Ind., 
Aug.  9,  1878.] 

The  Laboring  Man  and  Anarchy. 

Nothing  is  more  fatal  to  the  interest  of  labor  than 
anarchy.  A  condition  of  society  in  which  law  is  supreme 
is  for  the  poor  man  the  only  tolerable  one.  The  law  re 
inforces  his  weakness  and  makes  him  the  peer  of  the 
strongest.  It  is  his  tower.  If  he  forsakes  or  destroys  it 
his  folly  or  his  fury  delivers  him  a  prey  to  the  strong.  In 
this  land  of  universal  suffrage,  if  he  will  be  wise  and 
moderate,  no  right  legislation  can  tarry  long.  That 
which  is  just  will  not  be  denied.  But  fury  and  threats 
and  force  will  not  persuade.  They  provoke  their  like, 
and  in  this  clash  and  strife  all  must  suffer.  One  of  the 
most  distressing  and  alarming  features  of  our  time  is  the 
growing  hostility  between  capital  and  labor.  Those  who 
should  be  friends  have  been  drawing  apart  and  glaring 
fiercely  at  each  other.  There  is  no  real  or  necessary 
antagonism.  Capital  and  labor  must  unite  in  every 
enterprise ;  the  partnership  ought  to  be  a  fair  one,  and 
the  partners  friendly.  The  demagogue  is  a  potent  factor 
of  evil  in  the  settlement  of  the  labor  question.  His 
object  is  to  use  the  laborer  to  advance  a  political  ambi 
tion.  He  flatters  him  with  professions  of  ardent  friend 
ship  ;  beguiles  him  into  turning  the  stone  for  his  axe 
grinding,  and  when  the  edge  is  on  sends  him  away  with 
out  wages.  If  laboring  men  would  appoint  committees 
to  inquire  into  the  personal  history  of  these  self-appointed 
champions  they  would  not  unlikely  find  that  the  noisiest 
of  them  do  not  pay  their  tailor  or  shoemaker.  Their 
mission  is  to  array  one  class  against  another — to  foment 
strife,  and  to  live  themselves  without  work.  They  talk 
largely  of  the  producers,  but  never  produce  anything 
themselves  except  a  riot,  and  then  they  are  not  at  the 
front.  Their  doctrine  is  that  every  man  who  hires  labor 
is  an  oppressor  and  a  tyrant.  That  the  first  duty  of 
every  man  who  works  is  to  hate  the  man  who  gives  him 


3OO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

work.  The  fruit  of  this  sort  of  teaching  is  unrest  and 
fear  .....  The  true  workingmen  should  shake 
off  these  vipers  into  the  fire;  place  themselves  and  all 
their  protective  organizations  on  the  platform  of  the  law, 
and  while  demanding  their  legal  rights  to  the  full  pro 
claim  their  equal  deference  to  the  rights  of  others.  From 
this  platform  their  cry  for  help  and  sympathy  will  find 
the  public  ear.  Let  them  think  and  work  toward  specific 
and  legitimate  reforms,  for  within  the  limits  of  constitu 
tional  restriction  there  is  no  legislation  that  will  be 
denied  them.—  [Speech  at  Richmond,  Ind.,  Aug.  9, 


Contract  Labor. 

Mr.  Elaine  stands  to-night  square  with  his  party  upon 
the  proposition  embodied  in  our  platform  at  Chicago, 
that  we  do  not  want  in  this  country  imported  contract 
labor.  I  believe  in  letting  any  man  who  wants  to  be 
come  a  citizen  come  here,  if  he  comes  of  his  own  im 
pulse.  But  I  do  not  believe,  nor  does  he  believe,  nor 
does  the  Republican  party  believe  in  imported  gang 
labor.  Contracts  made  in  foreign  lands  are  made  at 
foreign  prices,  and  the  competition  is  unfair.  Labor 
contracts  should  be  individual.  —  [Ratification  speech  at 
Indianapolis,  June  /,  1884.] 


PENSIONS. 

Hundreds  of  letters  from  Indiana  soldiers,  some  from 
sick-beds,  some  written  in  the  shadow  of  the  poor-house, 
full  of  the  simple  pathos  of  truth  and  suffering,  have 
come  to  me  since  I  have  been  in  the  Senate,  and  the 
appeal  of  each  was,  "  Can't  you  hurry  up  the  settlement 
of  my  pension  claim?"  A  Republican  Congress  re 
sponded  to  that  appeal.  We  doubled  the  force  in  the 
pension  office — 800  additional  clerks  there — and  gave  a 
corresponding  increase  in  the  adjutant  and  surveyor- 
generals'  offices.  If  clainas  were  to  be  settled  faster 


THE  -POLITICIAN.  3O1 

more  money  would  be  needed  this  year  to  pay  the  claims 
allowed.  Who  will  call  this  waste  or  extravagance? — 
[Speech  at  Indianapolis,  Aug.  30,  1882.] 

Mr.  Cleveland  has  one  great  eminence — I  will  not  say 
fame — by  his  extraordinary  exercise  of  the  veto  power. 
He  has  vetoed  more  bills  than  all  of  his  predecessors, 
from  Washington  down.  I  must  defer  to  another  time 
a  discussion  of  this  feature  of  his  administration.  But 
as  we  have  been  challenged  to  examine  his  vetoes  of 
private  pension  bills  I  will  refer  to  one. 

Sally   Ann    Bradley  was   the    widow  of  Thomas   J. 
"Bradley,  who  served  as  a  private  in   Company  B,  24th 
Regiment    Ohio    Volunteers,    from    June    13,    1 86 1,   to 
October  9,  1865.     He  was  pensioned  on  account  of  a 
shell    wound    in    the    back,   received    at    Murfreesboro, 
Tenn.,  January  2,  1862,  and  died  October  21,  1882.    The 
commissioner'of  pensions  decided  that  his  death  was  not 
entirely  attributable  to  his  military  service,  and  that  his 
widow  could  not  secure  a  pension  under  existing  law. 
She  was  seventy  years  of  age,  as  helpless  as  an   infant, 
without  means  of  support,  or  friends  able  to  assist  her. 
Four  of  her  sons  followed  their  father  to  the  war.     Two 
of  them  were  killed  upon  the  battle-field,  and  the  other 
two  returned,  one  with  the  loss  of  an  eye,  the  other  of 
an  arm.     The  bill  gave  her  a  widow's  pension,  $12  a 
month.    In  his  veto  of  this  bill  Mr.  Cleveland  said  :  |'  No 
cause  is  given  of  the  soldier's  death,  but  it  is  not  claimed 
that  it  resulted  from  his  military   service,  her  pension 
being  asked  for  entirely  because  of  her  needs  and  the 
faithful  service  of  her  husband  and  sons.     This  presents 
the   question  whether  a  gift,  in  such  cases,  is  a  proper 
disposition  of  money  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  pay 
ing  pensions.     The  passage  of  this   law  would,  in  my 
opinion,  establish  a  precedent  so  far  reaching,  and  open 
the  door  to  such  a  vast  multitude  of  claims  not  on  prin 
ciple  within   our  present  pension   laws,  that   I   am  con 
strained  to  disapprove  the  bill  under  consideration." 

Does  this  case  need  any  comment?  Would  the  ques 
tion  have  been  raised  in  any  other  mind,  whether  what 
the  President  is  please  to  call  a  gift  was  proper  in  such  a 


3O2  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

case?  A  gift  of  $12  a  month,  and  in  exchange  for  what? 
What  gift  has  she  made  to  her  country  ?  Two  sons 
that  she  had  nourished  at  her  breast  lying  in  unknown 
graves  upon  distant  battle-fields.  Two  more,  her  only 
ones,  came  back  from  the  war  maimed  in  limb  and  crip 
pled  in  their  ability  to  maintain  the  mother  who  bore 
them.  A  husband  upon  whom  she  had  leaned  for  sup 
port  returned  to  her  rjo  longer  the  stalwart  helper  and 
defender  he  had  been  and  is  called  before  her  to  the 
grave.  She  is  alone.  Cannot  a  great,  rich  government 
like  ours  take  care  of  this  patriotic  woman  ?  Must  she  go 
to  the  poor-house  or  die  of  want  ?  May  not  a  nation  do 
out  of  its  great  resources  what  an  individual,  not  lost  to 
a  sense  of  justice,  would  do  under  like  circumstances? 

Our  President  seems  to  think  that  only  a  policeman's 
club  or  a  fire  engine  stands  related  to  the  public  safety 
and  the  substantial  welfare  of  the  people.  Those  finer 
spiritual  influences,  patriotism,  courage,  heroism,  he 
would  probably  call  sentimental  and  not  substantial. 

Patriotism  saved  this  country  from  a  revolt  that  the 
policeman's  club  could  not  quell — it  extinguished  in 
blood  a  flame  that  water  could  not  quench — and  the 
nation  can  afford  to  honor  it,  and  relieve  the  burdens  it 
brought  upon  its  heroes  and  their  families. — [Speech  at 
Indianapolis,  Sept.  15,  1 886.] 

Fellow- Citizens  :  There  are  some  things  connected  with 
this  administration  of  special  interest  to  soldiers,  and  I 
will  ask  their  attention  while  I  state  them.  I  know  the 
power  of  the  soldier  vote  is  diminishing;  the  column  is 
moving  on,  and  from  its  head  the  aged  and  infirm  are 
dropping  into  the  grave.  I  know  there  are  not  so  many 
Union  soldiers  to  vote  now  as  there  were  in  1865,  and 
yet,  my  comrades,  there  is  still  a  large  body  of  the  sur 
viving  veterans  of  that  war,  and  if  they  are  as  faithful  to 
themselves  as  they  were  to  the  country,  they  have  the 
power  to  rebuke  those  who  now  show  a  disposition  to 
forget  the  liberal  promises  with  which  they  sent  the  boys 
to  the  field  in  1861.  Some  of  you  went  out  Democrats 
and  came  back  Democrats.  But  politics  cannot  break 
the  bond  of  comradeship.  I  honor  you  as  i  honor  any 


THE    POLITICIAN.  303 

other  soldier.  I  give  you  increased  honor,  because  in 
many  cases  you  went  to  the  war  in  spite  of  the  beguile- 
nients  of  those  to  whom  you  had  been  accustomed  to 
look  for  political  advice.  What  liberal  promises  were 
made,  my  comrades,  in  1861  and  1862!  Ah!  when  the 
stress  of  war  was  on,  when  the  old  ship  was  in  the  storm,' 
how  profuse  were  the  promises  made  to  the  boys  !  Shall 
they  be  forgotten  now  ?  Shall  our  people  in  these  times, 
when  increasing  years  and  infirmities  are  bringing  to 
many  of  the  old  soldiers  needs  they  never  felt  before,  for 
get  them  ?  I  pledge  myself,  and  I  am  sure  I  can  pledge 
the  Republican  party,  to  be  faithful,  generous,  and  liberal 
to  the  soldiers  that  survive,  to  care  for  them  and  to  honor 
them  until  the  last  veteran  sleeps  his  last  sleep. 

But  I  come  now  to  consider  the  President's  attitude 
toward  the  soldiers.  President  Cleveland  will  be  known 
as  the  great  veto  President.  All  of  our  Presidents  prior 
to  President  Cleveland  vetoed  altogether  1 10  bills  passed 
by  Congress,  and  President  Cleveland  vetoed  in  the  eight 
months'  session  of  the  last  Congress  114.  He  is  four 
ahead  of  all  his  predecessors. — [Speech  at  Indianapolis, 
October,  1886.] 


FOREIGN   POLICY. 

Some  timid  people  fear  that  Mr.  Elaine  will  involve 
the  country  in  war.  Some  over-cautious  business  men 
affect  to  believe  that  the  even  current  of  their  money- 
getting  will  be  disturbed  by  the  aggressive  foreign  policy 
which  they  suppose  he  would  inaugurate.  My  fellow- 
citizens,  no  one  has  ever  accused  Elaine  of  being  a  fool. 
He  has  some  ideas  upon  foreign  affairs,  and  I  am  glad 
of  it ;  they  are  rare.  He  had  begun  to  organize  them 
into  a  system  when  he  laid  down  the  portfolio  of  State. 
Now,  what  sort  of  a  foreign  policy  did  his  dispatches 
foreshadow  ?  One  in  which  this  country  shall  play  the 
bully?  One  in  which  we  shall,  without  cause,  insult  or 
deny  just  rights  to  any  foreign  government?  Not  at  all. 


304  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Do  we  not  all  desire  that  we  shall  have  a  manly  foreign 
policy — one  that  shall  not  be  characterized  by  such 
timidity  as  not  to  lift  a  manly  protest  when  any  wrong;  is 
done  in  any  foreign  country  to  the  humblest  American 
citizen  ?  What  was  it  Mr.  Blaine  proposed  to  do  ?  Briefly 
and  chiefly,  he  proposed  to  call  a  congress  for  consultation 
as  to  the  mutual  interests  of  the  nations  of  the  continent; 
a  meeting  of  our  sister  republics,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
aggression.  Far  from  it.  It  was  that  we  might  exercise 
our  friendly  offices  'in  the  interests  of  peace  and  stable 
government  among  these  people  where  government  has 
been  so  unstable,  where  the  existing  regimes  are  so  fre 
quently  overturned  as  to  bring  prostration  and  desola 
tion  to  all  private  enterprises.  It  was  that  we  might  ex 
tend  a  kindly  hand  to  these  people,  to  help  them  on  to  a 
higher  civilization,  and  that  we  might  in  return  enjoy 
some  of  that  great  commerce  which  Great  Britain  monop 
olizes  to-day.  We  are  living  near  these  people  ;  they  are 
striving  to  imitate  us  in  the  experiment  of  free  govern 
ment,  yet  we  are  without  access  or  influence.  When  a 
distinguished  citizen  of  this  State  was,  by  President  James 
A.  Garfield,  appointed  charge  d'affaires  at  Montevideo,  in 
Uruguay,  in  order  to  get  to  his  post  of  duty  he  had  to 
take  a  British  steamer  from  New  York  to  Liverpool,  and 
another  British  steamer  from  Liverpool  to  Montevideo. 
Notwithstanding  we  are  here  on  the  same  general  coast, 
there  was  no  direct  communication  between  this  country 
and  that.  It  has  been,  a  standing  shame  that  our  rela 
tions  to  these  South  American  governments  have  been 
such  that  neither  we  nor  they  have  enjoyed  any  of  the 
benefits  of  good  neighborhood.  Mr.  Blaine  proposed  to 
remedy  this  confessed  omission  in  our  foreign  policy.  A 
congress  of  these  nations  was  the  leading  feature  of  his 
brief  administration  of  the  State  Department.  There  was 
nothing  to  disturb  business  in  that  policy,  but  much 
promise  of  a  new  market  for  our  surplus.  Nobody  wants 
war ;  it  is  a  last  resort.  But  every  self-respecting  Amer 
ican  does  believe  in  maintaining  the  proper  dignity,  honor, 
and  influence  of  this  great  nation. 


THE    POLITICIAN.  305 

My  countrymen,  I  have  digressed  a  little  in  this  talk 
about  Mr.  Elaine's  foreign  policy.  Neither  he  nor  we 
propose  any  policy  that  shall  imperil  the  quiet  of  this 
country  unless,  having  exhausted  every  peaceful  measure, 
there  should  remain  no  other  recourse  but  war.  But 
when  that  issue  comes,  the  patriotic,  brave  hearts  of  his 
countrymen  will  respond  that  the  dignity  and  the  honor 
of  the  country  and  the  safety  of  her  citizens  must  be 
maintained,  even  if  the  money-getters  suffer  temporary 
interruption. — [Ratification  speech  at  Indianapolis,  June 
7,  1884.] 


RESTORATION   OF  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY. 

I  am  in  favor  of  putting  upon  the  sea  enough  Ameri 
can  ships,  armed  with  the  most  improved  ordnance,  to 
enforce  the  just  rights  of  our  people  against  any  foreign 
aggressor.  It  is  a  good  thing  in  the  interests  of  peace 
and  commerce  to  show  the  flag  of  our  navy  in  the  ports 
where  the  flag  of  commerce  is  unfurled.  It  opens  the 
way  to  traffic  and  gives  security  to  our  citizens  dwelling 
in  those  remote  lands. — [Ratification  speech  at  Indian 
apolis,  June  7,  1884.] 

Is  it  not  humiliating  beyond  expression  that  a  promi 
nent  Democratic  representative  should  thus  declare  the 
inability  of  the  government  to  obtain  redress  from  an  in 
ferior  power  for  outrages  upon  an  American  citizen,  and 
that  his  party  associates  should  at  the  same  time  be  vot 
ing  to  withhold  the  necessary  appropriation  to  arm  the 
four  vessels  we  are  building  and  against  adding  another 
to  their  number  ?  It  is  not  proposed  by  the  Republican 
party  to  put  afloat  a  navy  which,  assembled  in  one 
squadron,  could  do  successful  battle  with  the  fleets  of 
some  of  the  great  European  powers,  but  we  do  propose, 
and  such  was  the  view  of  the  naval  advisory  board,  to 
build  at  once  a  sufficient  number  of  fast-sailing  steel 
cruisers  to  constitute  a  bond  for  good  behavior  and  fair 
treatment  on  the  part  of  the  other  maritime  nations  of  the 
world,  and  to  construct  for  coast  and  harbor  defenses 

20 


306  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

such  armored  ships  and  torpedo  boats  as  will  protect  our 
great  commercial  cities  on  the  seaboard.  The  occasional 
visit  to  foreign  ports  of  a  modern  and  well-equipped  ship, 
bearing  the  flag  of  our  nation,  challenges  respect  and 
gives  a  sense  of  security  to  our  citizens  dwelling  abroad. 
— [Speech  at  Indianapolis,  Aug.  23,  1884.] 


MISCELLANEOUS    POLITICS. 
Remedies  for  Crimes  Against  the  Ballot. 

There  is  vast  power  in  a  protest.  Public  opinion  is  the 
most  potent  monarch  this  world  knows  to-day.  Czars 
tremble  in  its  presence;  and  we  may  bring  to  bear  upon 
this  question  a  public  sentiment,  by  bold  and  fearless 
denunciation  of  it,  that  will  do  a  great  deal  toward  cor 
recting  it.  Why,  my  countrymen,  we  meet  now  and 
then  with  these  Irish-Americans  and  lift  our  voice  in  de 
nunciation  of  the  wrongs  which  England  is  perpetrating 
upon  Ireland.  We  do  not  elect  any  members  of  Parlia 
ment,  but  the  voice  of  free  America,  protesting  against 
these  centuries  of  wrongs,  has  had  a  most  potent  influ 
ence  in  creating,  stimulating  and  sustaining  the  liberal 
policy  of  William  E.  Gladstone  and  his  associates.  Can 
not  we  do  as  much  for  oppressed  Americans?  Can  we 
not  make  our  appeal  to  these  Irish-American  citizens 
who  appeal  to  us  in  behalf  of  their  oppressed  fellow- 
countrymen  to  rally  with  us  in  this  crusade  against  elec 
tion  frauds  and  intimidation  in  the  country  that  they 
have  made  their  own? 

There  may  be  legislative  remedies  in  sight  when  we 
can  once  again  possess  both  branches  of  the  national 
Congress  and  have  an  executive  at  Washington  who  has 
not  been  created  by  these  crimes  against  the  ballot. 
Whatever  they  are,  we  will  seek  them  out  and  put  them 
into  force,  not  in  a  spirit  of  enmity  against  the  men  who 
fought  against  us — forgetting  the  war,  but  only  insisting 
that  now,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  it  is  over, 
a  free  ballot  shall  not  be  denied  to  the  Republicans  in 


THE    POLITICIAN. 

those  States  where  rebels  have  been -rehabilitated  with  a 
full  citizenship.  Every  question  waits  the  settlement  of 
this.  The  tariff  question  would  be  settled  already  if  the 
6,000,000  black  laborers  in  the  South  had  their  due 
representation  in  the  House  of  Representatives. — [De 
troit  speech,  Feb.  22,  1888.] 

The  South,  and  Suppression  of  tlic  Republican   Vote. 

But  some  timid  soul  is  alarmed  at  the  suggestion. 
He  says  we  are  endeavoring  to  rake  over  the  coals  of 
an  extinct  conflict  to  see  if  we  may  not  find  some  ember 
in  which  there  is  yet  sufficient  vitality  to  rekindle  the 
strife.  Some  man  says  you  are  actuated  by  unfriendly 
feelings  toward  the  South,  you  want  to  fight  the  war 
over  again,  you  are  flaunting  the  bloody  shirt.  My 
countrymen,  those  epithets  and  that  talk  never  have  any 
terrors  for  me.  I  do  not  want  to  fight  the  war  over 
again,  and  I  am  sure  no  Northern  soldier — and  there 
must  be  many  here  of  those  gallant  Michigan  regiments, 
some  of  which  I  had  the  pleasure  during  the  war  of  see 
ing  in  action,  not  one  of  these  that  wishes  to  renew  that 
strife  or  fight  the  war  over  again.  Not  one  of  this  great 
assemblage  of  Republicans  who  listens  to  me  wishes  ill 
to  the  South.  If  it  were  left  to  us  here  to-night  the 
streams  of  her  prosperity  would  be  full.  We  woald 
gladly  hear  of  her  reviving  and  stimulated  industry. 
We  gladly  hear  of  increasing  wealth  in  the  States  of  the 
South.  We  wish  them  to  share  in  the  onward  and  up 
ward  movement  of  a  great  people.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  the  war,  it  is  not  a  question  of  what  was  done  be 
tween  '6 1  and  '65  at  all  that  I  am  talking  about  to-night. 
It  is  what  they  have  done  since  '65.  It  is  what  they  did 
in  '84  when  a  President  was  to  be  chosen  for  this  country. 

Our  controversy  is  not  one  of  the  past,  it  is  of  the 
present.  It  has  relation  to  that  which  will  be  done  next 
November,  when  our  people  are  again  called  to  chose  a 
President.  W7hat  is  it  we  ask  ?  Simply  that  the  South 
live  up  to  the  terms  of  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 
When  that  great  chieftain  received  the  surrender  of  the 


3O8  BENJAMIN    HARRISON 

Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  when  those  who  had  for 
four  years  confronted  us  in  battle,  stacked  arms  in  sur 
render,  the  terms  were  simply  these:  You  shall  go  to 
your  homes,  and  shall  be  there  unmolested  so  long  as 
you  obey  the  laws  in  force  where  you  reside.  That  is 
the  sum  of  our  demand.  We  ask  nothing  more  of  the 
South  to-night  than  that  they  shall  cease  to  use  this  re 
covered  citizenship,  which  they  had  forfeited  by  rebellion, 
to  oppress  and  disfranchise  those  who  equally  with  them 
selves  under  the  Constitution  are  entitled  to  vote — that 
and  nothing  more. 

I  do  not  need  to  enter  into  details.  The  truth  to-day 
is  that  the  colored  Republican  vote  of  the  South,  and 
with  it  and  by  consequence  the  white  Republican  vote 
of  the  South,  is  deprived  of  all  effective  influence  in  the 
administration  of  this  government.  The  additional  power 
given  by  the  colored  population  of  the  South  in  the 
Electoral  College,  and  in  Congress,  was  more  than 
enough  to  turn  the  last  election  for  President,  and  more 
than  enough  to  reverse,  yes,  largely  more  than  reverse, 
the  present  Democratic  majority  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  Have  we  the  spirit  to  insist  that  everywhere, 
North  and  South,  in  this  country  of  ours  no  man  shall  be 
deprived  of  his  ballot  by  reason  of  his  politics  ?  There  is 
not  in  all  this  land  a  place  where  any  rebel  soldier  is  sub 
ject  to  any  restraint,  or  is  denied  the  fullest  exercise  of  the 
elective  franchise.  Shall  we  not  insis.t  that  what  is  true 
of  those  who  fought  to  destroy  the  country  shall  be  true 
of  every  man  who  fought  for  it,  or  loved  it,  like  the  black 
man  of  the  South  did,  that  to  belong  to  Abraham  Lin 
coln's  party  shall  be  respectable  and  reputable  every 
where  in  America. — [Detroit  speech,  Feb.  22,  1888.] 

Control  by  the  Majority. 

My  countrymen,  this  government  is  that  which  I  love 
to  think  of  as  my  country,  for  not  acres,  or  railroads,  or 
farm  products,  or  bulk  meats,  or  Wall  street,  or  all  com 
bined,  are  the  country  that  I  love.  It  is  the  institution, 
the  form  of  government,  the  frame  of  civil  society,  for 


THE    POLITICIAN.  309 

which  that  flag  stands,  and  which  we  love.  It  is  what 
Mr.  Lincoln  so  tersely,  yet  so  felicitously,  described  as 
the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people;  a  government  of  the  people,  because  they  insti 
tuted  it — the  Constitution  reads,  "  We,  the  people,  have 
ordained;"  by  the  people,  because  it  is  in  all  its  depart 
ments  controlled  by  them;  for  the  people,  because  it 
states  as  its  object  of  supreme  attainment  the  happiness, 
security  and  peace  of  the  people  that  dwell  under  it. 

The  bottom  principle — sometimes  it  is  called  the  cor 
ner-stone,  sometimes  the  foundation  of  our  structure  of 
government — is  the  principle  of  control  by  the  majority. 
It  is  more  than  the  corner-stone  or  foundation.  This 
structure  is  a  monolith,  one  from  foundation  to  apex, 
and  that  monolith  stands  for  and  is  this  principle  of  gov 
ernment  by  majorities,  legally  ascertained  by  constitu 
tional  methods.  Everything  else  about  our  government 
is  appendage,  is  ornamentation.  This  is  the  monolithic 
column  that  was  reared  by  Washington  and  his  asso 
ciates.  For  this  the  war  of  the  revolution  was  fought; 
for  this  and  its  more  perfect  security  the  Constitution 
was  formed;  for  this  the  war  of  the  rebellion  was  fought, 
and  when  this  principle  perishes  the  structure  which 
Washington  and  his  compatriots  reared  lies  dishonored 
in  the  dust.  The  equality  of  the  ballot  demands  that 
our  apportionments  in  the  States  for  legislative  and  con 
gressional  purposes  shall  be  so  adjusted  that  there  shall 
be  equality  in  the  influence  and  the  power  ot  every 
elector,  so  that  it  shall  not  be  true  anywhere  that  one 
man  counts  two  or  one  and  a  half,  and  some  other  man 
counts  only  one-half. 

But  some  one  says  that  is  fundamental.  All  men  ac 
cept  this  truth.  Not  quite.  My  countrymen,  we  are 
confronted  by  this  condition  of  things  in  America  to 
day,  a  government  by  the  majority,  expressed  by  an 
equal  and  a  free  balFot,  is  not  only  threatened,  but  it  has 
been  overturned.  Why  is  it  to-day  that  we  have  legisla 
tion  threatening  the  industries  of  this  country?  why  is  it 
that  the  paralyzing  shadow  of  free  trade  falls  upon  the 
manufactures  and  upon  the  homes  of  our  laboring 


3IO  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

classes?  It  is  because  the  laboring  vote  in  the  Southern 
States  is  suppressed.  There  would  be  no  question  about, 
the  security  of  these  principles  so  long  established  by 
law,  so  eloquently  set  forth  by  my  friend  from  Connecti 
cut,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  workingmen  of  the  South 
have  been  deprived  of  their  influence  in  choosing  repre 
sentatives  at  Washington. — [Detroit  speech,  Feb.  22, 
1888.] 

Public  Lands. 

There  was  a  time  in  our  history  when  we  thought  our 
public  domain  was  inexhaustible.  There  was  a  time 
when  our  Pacific  slope  lay  separated  by  weeks  of  travel 
from  us,  over  sandy  plains,  in  slow  coaches.  There  was 
a  sentiment  that  we  might  well  aid  in  the  construction 
of  some  railroads  to  the  coast.  But  that  work  has  been 
done,  and  we  stand,  as  he  stands  to-day,  in  the  defence 
of  the  principle  enunciated  at  Chicago,  that  the  land  not 
fairly  earned  by  these  companies  should  be  returned  to 
the  public  domain,  and  that  what  is  left  of  the  public 
domain  suitable  for  agricultural  uses  shall  be  saved  for 
the  actual  settler,  in  small  tracts.  The  public  mind  has 
been  aroused  by  the  fact  that  foreign  capitalists,  lords 
and  nobles  of  the  old  country,  have  come  here  and 
acquired  vast  tracts  of  our  public  domain ;  public  indig 
nation  and  interest  have  been  excited,  and  we  have  said 
it  must  stop.  I  would  not  dispose  of  an  acre  of  the 
public  land  otherwise  than  under  the  homestead  laws. — 
[Ratification  speech  at  Indianapolis,  June  7,  1884.] 

The  Ship  Canal  across  the  Isthmus. 

In  this  dispatch  Mr.  Elaine  boldly,  yet  without  blus 
ter,  assumed  the  position  for  his  government  that  in  the 
present  condition  of  this  country,  having  States  upon 
the  Pacific,  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf,  we  had  a  peculiar 
interest  in  any  ship  canal  across  the  Isthmus.  He 
pointed  out  that  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  by  reason 
of  the  greater  naval  strength  of  Great  Britain,  which 
our  policy  did  not  allow  us  to  compete  with,  surrendered 


THE    POLITICIAN.  3 1  I 

the  control  of  the  canal  practically  to  Great  Britain  in 
case  of  war  between  the  two  nations,  by  refusing  to  us 
the  benefit  of  our  greater  strength  upon  the  land. 

The  narrow  barrier  which  obstructs  the  passage  of 
ships  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Pacific  ocean  will  not  much 
longer  force  commerce  around  the  Horn.  When  a 
canal  is  completed  it  will  be  practically  a  part  of  our 
coast  line,  and  the  control  of  it  by  any  foreign  power 
would  put  us  at  tremendous  disadvantage  in  time  of 
war,  by  allowing  the  enemy  to  mass  her  squadrons  on 
either  of  our  coasts  at  her  pleasure.  Only  the  law  of 
superior  force  could  compel  us  to  submit  to  this  disad 
vantage. — [Speech,  Indianapolis,  Aug.  23,  1884.] 

Trusts  and11  Combines'' 

Now  I  do  not  propose  here  to  discuss  the  tariff  ques 
tion.  I  believe  the  principle  of  the  protection  of  Amer 
ican  industry  is  well  established  and  well  defended  by 
the  principles  of  political  economy  and  by  the  duties  of 
patriotism.  There  are  one  or  two  things  that  in  some 
respects  are  working  against  it,  and  one  is  this  abomina 
ble  and  un-American  system  which  is  recently  devel 
oped,  called  trusts — I  do  not  refer  to  the  gas  trust  at 
Indianapolis;  that  is  firstrate ;  it  is  the  only  trust  of  that 
sort  that  I  know  of  that  is  really  in  the  interests  of  the 
people — but  this  sort  of  thing  has  come  about:  The 
men  making  steel  rails  form  an  association,  and  they 
say,  "  We  must  not  make  too  many  steel  rails,  the  price 
will  go  down."  And  so  they  say  to  a  steel-mill  over  in 
St.  Louis,  "  Now  don't  you  make  any  rails  this  year  at 
all ;  you  let  your  fires  go  out ;  you  can  discharge  all 
of  your  workmen,  and  we  will  pay  you  out  of  the  pool 
enough  to  make  you  a  good  dividend  on  your  stock  or 
your  capital."  And  the  mill  shuts  down,  turns  out  the 
workmen  that  should  be  there,  and  gets  out  of  the  pool 
a  good  interest  on  its  investment.  We  had  a  whisky 
pool — I  don't  know  that  anybody  would  object  that  they 
limit  the  production,  but  it  will  do  just  as  well  for  illus- 


312  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

tration.  They  work  it  the  same  way.  They  say  to  this 
distillery,  "  Your  capacity  is  a  hundred  barrels ;  you 
make  fifty."  And  to  another,  "  Your  capacity  is  two 
hundred;  you  make  a  hundred."  And  to  another, 
"  Don't  you  run  at  all,  and  we  will  pay  you."  And  they 
pool  it  all  up  and  fix  prices  this  way.  Now  this  thing  is 
running  too  far.  It  is  un-American  ;  it  is  unpatriotic  in 
my  judgment,  and  you  will  notice  that  those  who  are 
attacking  our  tariff  system  take  their  position  behind 
these  facts  and  use  them  as  the  ground  of  their  assault. 
We  must  find  some  way  to  stop  such  combinations. 
There  has  recently  been  an  attempt  in  Pennsylvania,  as 
reported,  in  the  great  anthracite  coal  regions  upon  which 
the  cities  of  Philadelphia,  Boston,  New  York  and  the 
people  of  the  seaboard  depend,  as  well  as  of  the  West, 
for  much  of  their  winter  fuel,  to  combine  together,  the 
railroad  and  mine-ownersvand  say :  "  We  will  only  pro 
duce  so  much  coal,  and  we  will  force  the  price  up."  I 
believe  these  things  should  be  made  unlawful,  prohibited 
and  punished  as  conspiracies  against  the  people. — 
[Speech,  Danville,  Ind.,  Aug.  26,  1886.] 

The  Anarchists. 

My  countrymen,  I  believe  that  the  question  of  enforcing 
the  laws  is  assuming  an  importance  now  that  it  has  never 
had  before  in  our  country.  We  have  been  careless, 
thoughtless,  as  we  saw  violations  of  law  going  on  from 
day  to  day,  but  the  nation  has  been  startled  into  a  reali 
zation  of  the  fact  that  its  only  safety,  the  only  anchor  it 
has  out  on  the  side  of  social  order  and  domestic  peace, 
is  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  What  was  it  that  cul 
minated  at  Chicago  less  than  two  years  ago,  on  that  day 
when  the  guardians  of  the  law  were  butchered  ?  Where 
did  this  red  flower  find  its  seed  ?  It  was,  as  I  believe, 
in  that  defiant,  persistent  violation  of  law  upon  which 
we  have  so  long  looked  indifferently.  The  nation  is 
waking  up. 


THE    POLITICIAN.  313 

Prohibition. 

I  want  to  say  this  further :  There  may  have  been  a 
time  in  the  past  when  the  Republican  party  of  Indiana 
had  dalliance  with  the  liquor  interests  ;  but  I  beg  to  say 
to  all  who  hear  me  to-day  that  when  the  platform  of  the 
last  State  Convention  was  read  and  received  with  cheers 
by  the  great  masses  who  heard  it,  any  dalliance  between 
the  Republican  party  and  the  liquor  league  was  severed 
once  and  forever.     When  the  resolution  fell  from  the  lips 
of  my  friend  who  sits  yonder,  Mr.  Halford,  of  the  Journal, 
as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  resolutions,  a  trumpet 
was  sounded  that  will  never  call  retreat.    Why  ?    Simply 
for  the  reason  I  have  already  given  ;  the  liquor  league  is 
an  organization  framed  to  defy  the  law,  and,  therefore,  we 
are  against  it  and  it  is  against  us.     And  yet,  notwith 
standing  this,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  whenever 
you  open  the  robe  in  which  the  Democratic  party  mas 
querades,  you  see  some  liquor  league  boodle  sticking 
out,  there  are  those  who,  like  my  friend,  the  Methodist 
bishop    South,   have    got  "  past   temperance,"    and   are 
third-party  men  who  make  the  welkin  ring  with  the  cry, 
"  Smash  the  Republican  party."     W7ell,  that  is  not  a  cry 
likely  to  draw  Republicans  into  your  party.     Refore  me 
to-day  is  a  great  body  of  Republicans,  young  and  old, 
full  of  pride  in  the  old  party;  who  believe  that  it  has, 
under  God,  wrought  out  the  best  things  that  were  ever 
achieved  by  any  political  organization  ;  who  believe  that 
it  has  in  it  yet  high  capacities,  and  who  are  not  amiably 
disposed  when  anybody  says,  "  Smash  the  Republican 
party."     If  you  want  to  persuade  us,  you  will  have  to 
change  that  cry.     And  what  next  ?     Why  do  you  want 
to  smash    the   Republican    party  ?     Does   the   shield   it 
carries  cover  the  liquor  league  ?     No,  my  countrymen ; 
now,  henceforth,  if  not  before,  the  shield  it  carries  fronts 
the  liquor  league,  and  the  point  of  its  spear  is  toward 
that  enemy  of  law  and  order.     Why  is  it  that  we  do  not 
hear  from  our  Prohibition  friends  the  cry,  "  Smash  the 
Democratic  party  ?  "     Why  is  it,  when  the  campaign  is 
on,  that  the  Democratic  party  newspaper  becomes  at  the 


314  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

same  time  a  liquor  league  and  a  third-party  organ  ? 
Simply  because  they  hope  thus  to  withdraw  from  the 
Republican  party,  by  this  third-party  movement,  enough 
votes  to  continue  the  liquor  league  and  the  Democratic 
party  in  power;  they  will  have  the  spoils  of  office,  and 
their  shield  will  faithfully  cover  these  violators  of  the 
law.  I  have  said  before,  and  I  say  now,  that  among  this 
band  of  zealous  third-party  workers  for  prohibition  there 
are  devoted,  faithful,  earnest  men  and  women.  But,  my 
friends,  is  it  not  a  little  hard,  when  the  Republican  party 
has  sounded  this  note  of  defiance,  and  boldly  confronts 
this  organized  traffic  that  you  affect  so  much  to  repro 
bate,  and  the  Democratic  party  allied  with  it,  that  we 
should  hear  the  hoarse  cry  of  the  liquor  league  in  our 
front,  "  Smash  the  Republican  party,"  and  from  the  rear 
should  come  also  the  piping  cry  of  the  third-party  Pro 
hibitionists,  answering  like  an  echo  to  the  hoarse  cry  in 
our  front,  "Smash  the  Republican  party?" 

A  voice — They  won't  smash  it  worth  a  cent. 

Senator  Harrison — No,  they  won't!  [Applause.]  Be 
cause,  for  one  reason,  the  great  body  of  that  great  pioneer 
church  of  the  West,  that  paved  the  way  for  civilization 
and  God  in  our  woods,  are  unlike  the  bishop  down  South, 
and  have  not  "  got  past  temperance."  Now,  what  are  we 
going  to  do  about  it?  Well,  let  us  see.  We  said  in  our 
State  platform  that  we  were  in  favor  of  clothing  local 
communities  with  power  to  act  upon  this  question.  There 
I  stand  for  one  to-day.  I  do  not  be'lieve  in  State  prohi 
bition  as  the  best  method  of  dealing  with  this  question. 
If  you  do,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  part  to-day. 
There  is  good  work  that  we  can  do  together.  The  Re 
publican  party  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  so  far  as 
it  cOuld,  kept  the  pledge  of  the  platform.  If  you  had 
helped  us,  my  prohibition  friends,  to  make  the  Senate 
Republican,  that  law  would  have  been  on  the  statute 
book  to-day.  I  believe  it  is  true,  and  can  be  demonstrated 
to  be  true,  that  if  you  had  thrown  your  votes  with  us  in 
the  last  campaign  such  a  result  could  have  been  accom 
plished.  Is  it  not  worth  while  to  work  together?  I  be 
lieve  that  much  depends  upon  the  wise  and  thoughtful 


THE    POLITICIAN.  315 

reconsideration  of  all  these  questions  by  the  temperance 
people  of  Indiana,  and  if  they  shall  wisely  think  upon 
them  and  wisely  give  their  vote  and  influence  to  the  party 
that  has  started  boldly  in  the  direction  of  temperance 
reform,  we  shall  certainly  carry  Indiana  next  year,  and 
greatly  advance  the  good  cause  of  temperance  reform. 


The  Soldiers'  Friend. 

I  have  no  disposition  to  revive  any  unpleasant  mem 
ories,  but  this  resolution  admonishes  us,  fellow-soldiers, 
that  we  must  be  on  the  alert,  or  some  Democratic  con 
vention  will  put  Lee  into  Grant's  place  and  Stonewall 
Jackson  into  Sheridan's.  God  forbid  that  the  soldier  of 
Indiana,  of  whatever  political  faith,  should  ever  allow  any 
other  test  of  friendship  than  that  of  sympathy  and  co 
operation  in  the  cause  for  which  they  fought.  What 
personal  sacrifice  is  there  to  any  of  us  in  Congress  when 
we  vote  pension  money  to  the  soldier  ?  The  man  who 
lived  through  the  war  of  the  rebellion  and  did  not  make 
some  sacrifice  for  the  success  of  the  Union  armies — who 
did  not  say  one"  brave  word,  or  do  one  brave  thing  when, 
with  bare  and  bleeding  breasts,  our  soldiers  looked  into 
the  face  of  hell  for  their  country — can  never  be  enshrined 
as  the  soldiers'  friend. — [Speech  at  Indianapolis,  Aug. 
30,  1882.] 

Subsidies  for  American  Steamships. 

Well,  again,  I  want  to  see  enough  revenue  saved  to 
help  put  some  American  steamship  lines  on  the  sea. 
Every  important  nation  of  the  old  world  subsidizes  some 
of  the  great  steamship  lines  that  ply  between  its  ports 
and  the  ports  of  foreign  countries,  either  directly  or  by 
liberal  pay  for  carrying  the  mail.  Why  I  saw  to-day  in 
the  Journal  that  for  years  the  Argentine  Republic,  in 
South  America,  has  been  offering  out  of  its  treasury  an 
annual  bonus  of  $100,000  to  any  company  that  would 
establish  a  regular  steamship  line  between  Buenos  Ayres 
and  New  York  city.  That  poor  government  has  been 


31  6  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

willing  to  do  so  much.  It  would  develop  for  us  a  great 
trade  and  give  an  outlet  for  surplus  manufactured  prod 
ucts.  Congress  once  placed  in  the  control  of  the  Post 
master-General  a  large  sum  of  money  that  might  have 
been  so  spent,  but  he  refused  to  expend  it ;  and  so  we 
stand  to-day.  Separated  by  so  much  shorter  distance 
from  these  South  American  ports,  our  near  neighbors, 
who  ought  to  buy  our  goods  and  send  theirs  here,  are  in 
fact  by  reason  of  these  steamship  lines  more  near  to  Eng 
land  than  to  us,  and  she  enjoys  their  trade.  You  all  know 
Bayless  Hanna.  [Laughter  and  cries  of  4<  We  do."] 
Well,  Bayless  was  chosen  to  represent  us,  I  believe,  at 
the  court  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  the  very  nation  I 
have  been  speaking  of,  and  he  wanted  to  get  there,  and 
in  order  to  get  there — down  our  own  coast — he  had  to 
go  to  Liverpool  to  get  a  ship  to  carry  him  there.  Is  it 
not  a  shame  that  an  American  ambassador  cannot  find  an 
American  ship  out  from  any  of  our  great  ports  to  these 
ports  of  the  South  American  States,  but  must  cross  the 
ocean  eastward  and  put  himself  under  the  British  flag  in 
order  to  find  the  port  where  he  is  to  set  up  over  his 
house  the  American  flag?  Now,  before  we  reduce  the 
revenue  too  much,  we  want  to  get  an  administration  that 
will  respond  to  the  demand  of  the  people  and  of  Congress 
that  American  ships  shall  have  suitable  encouragement 
to  ply  between  these  ports  of  South  America  and  our 
own  ports,  to  develop  the  great  trade  that  we  ought  to 
have  with  them. — [Speech,  Danville,  Ind.,  Aug.  26,  1886.] 

Ireland  and  Irishmen. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  Indianapolis  on  the  8th 
of  April,  1887,  General  Harrison  said : 

"  It  may  be  suggested  that  we  are  engaged  to-night  in 
an  act  that  savors  somewhat  of  impertinence — that  the 
question  of  the  pending  legislation  relating  to  Ireland, 
which  is  the  subject  of  discussion  in  the  British  Parlia 
ment,  is  not  a  proper  subject  of  discussion  in  an  American 
town  meeting.  But  the  man  who  makes  that  suggestion 


THE    POLITICIAN.  317 

does  not  understand  the  scope  and  powers  of  an  Ameri 
can  town  meeting.  We  all  understand  that  an  American 
newspaper  is  free  to  discuss  every  question.  There  is  no 
limit  upon  its  jurisdiction.  Now,  the  American  town 
meeting  has  just  as  broad  a  jurisdiction.  We  have  no 
official  representations  to  make  to  the  British  govern 
ment.  It  can  take  notice  or  not  of  what  we  do  and  say 
here,  but  all  the  same  we  will  exercise  the  liberty  of 
saying  it.  There  was  a  time  when  communication  with 
Europe  was  so  tardy  and  difficult  that  America  was 
separated  in  its  sympathy,  but  that  time  has  passed. 
The  electric  current  has  been  put  into  service  not  only 
upon  the  land  but  under  the  seas.  Nations  have  by  this 
rapid  intercommunication  been  tied  together.  The 
bonds  of  sympathy  have  been  strengthened,  mutual  in 
terests  have  been  enlarged,  and  the  time  will  soon  come 
when  the  whole  earth  will  be  one  commonwealth  in 
sympathy  and  thought.  Nothing  involving,  the  lives  or 
liberties  of  men  can  happen  now  anywhere  in  the  world, 
whether  in  the  frozen  north  or  in  South  Africa,  that 
does  not  evoke  interest  and  sympathy  here.  I  am  not 
here  to  discuss  particular  measures  of  relief  for  Ireland. 
I  am  not  here  to  suggest  that  legislation  should  take 
this  or  that  precise  form,  but  all  here  will  at  least  agree 
that  it  should  be  progressive  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
liberal  government  for  Ireland  than  she  now  has.  We 
are  not  here  to  suggest  to  Great  Britain  that  she  shall 
concede  Irish  independence.  The  disintegration  of 
nations  is  seldom  by  parliamentary  enactment.  When 
that  comes  it  comes  as  the  fruit  and  result  of  successful 
revolution.  We  are  here  simply  to  say  that,  in  our 
opinion  as  American  citizens,  what  Ireland  needs  is  not 
coercion,  is  not  the  constable,  is  not  the  soldier  with 
musket  and  bayonet;  but  liberal  laws,  tending  to  eman 
cipate  her  people  from  the  results  of  long  centuries  of  ill 
government,  and  that  when  this  British  Ministry  starts 
in  the  direction  of  coercion,  and  postpones  suggestions 
for  reform  until  a  coercion  bill  has  been  enacted,  it  is 
traveling  in  the  wrong  direction.  It  is  not  possible,  in 
this  age  of  the  world,  to  govern  a  people  as  numerous 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

and  inhabiting  a  country  of  such  extent  as  Ireland  by 
coercion.  The  period  in  the  world's  history  when  men 
might  be  governed  by  force — their  inclinations  coerced, 
their  aspirations  for  participation  in  government  sup 
pressed — is  passed  away  forever.  More  and  more  the 
American  idea  that  government  rests  upon  the  consent 
of  the  governed  is  making  its  way  in  the  world.  If  it  be 
true  that  the  British  government  finds  difficulty  in  Ire 
land  in  impaneling  juries  that  will  convict  for  offences 
there  against  the  landlord  it  is  because  it  is  deeply  settled 
in  the  convictions  of  those  people  that  the  laws  are 
egregiously  wrong  in  principle  and  hurtful  in  their 
application.  Such  a  conviction  cannot  be  removed  by 
coercion ;  by  finding  another  jurisdiction  and  venue  in 
which  to  try  those  offenses,  and  the  government  becomes 
a  failure  when  that  becomes  a  necessity.  We  were  not 
without  experience  in  that  in  our  own  country  at  the 
close  of  thewwar.  I  unite  with  you  as  an  American  citi 
zen  in  the  expression  of  the  hope  that  we  shall  soon 
witness  the  adoption  of  such  measures  as  will  win  the 
Irish  heart  and  give  to  the  helpless  and  poverty-stricken 
in  the  land  of  their  fathers  contentment  and  prosperity. 

General  Harrison  responded  to  the  toast, 
"Washington  as  a  Republican,"  at  the  banquet 
of  the  Michigan  Club,  Detroit,  on  the  22<d  of 
February.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  made 
the  following  reference  to  the  Irish  question,  in 
arguing  for  an  equal  ballot  and  equal  represen 
tation  in  the  Southern  States : 

There  is  vast  power  in  a  protest.  Public  opinion  is 
the  most  potent  monarch  this  world  knows  to-day. 
Czars  tremble  in  its  presence ;  and  we  may  bring  to  bear 
upon  this  evil  a  public  sentiment,  by  bold  and  fearless 
denunciation  of  it,  that  will  do  a  great  deal  toward  cor 
recting  it.  Why,  my  countrymen,  we  meet  now  and 
then,  with  our  Irish-American  friends  and  lift  our  voices 


THE    POLITICIAN.  3 1 Q 

in  denunciation  of  the  wrongs  which  England  is  inflict 
ing  upon  Ireland.  We  do  not  elect  any  members  of 
Parliament,  but  the  voice  of  free  America,  protesting 
against  these  centuries  of  wrong,  has  had  a  most  potent 
influence  in  creating,  stimulating  and  sustaining  the 
liberal  policy  of  William  E.  Gladstone  and  his  associates. 
Cannot  we  do  as  much  for  oppressed  Americans  ?  Can 
we  not  make  our  appeal  to  these  Irish-American  citizens 
who  appeal  to  us  in  behalf  of  their  oppressed  fellow- 
countrymen  to  rally  with  us  in  this  crusade  a'gainst  elec 
tion  frauds  and  intimidation  in  the  country  that  they 
have  made  their  own  ? 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1887,  the  citizens  of 
Indianapolis  gave  a  reception  to  Hons.  Esmonde 
and  O'Connor.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting,  the 
report  says : 

General  Harrison  was  loudly  called  for  by  the  au 
dience.  He  said :  "  The  hour  was  already  so  late  that 
he  would  detain  the  audience  but  a  moment.  He  was 
glad  to  have  the  opportunity  to  hear  the  distinguished 
guests  of  the  evening ;  men  who  in  the  British  Parlia 
ment  stand  for  home  rule  in  Ireland.  They  have  given 
me  much  fuller  information  than  I  had  before  of  the 
oppressive  character  of  the  coercion  acts.  I  was  glad 
also  to  learn  that  the  Irish  people  have  shown  such  a 
steady  and  self-contained  adherence  to  their  rights,  and 
such  steadfastness  in  the  assertion  of  them  by  lawful 
methods.  We  know  that  Irishmen  have  many  a  time  in 
the  struggle  of  their  native  land,  and  in  our  fight  in 
America  for  constitutional  government,  thrown  them 
selves  upon  the  bayonet  of  the  enemies  of  liberty  with 
reckless  courage.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  they  can 
also  make  a  quiet  but  unyielding  resistance  to  oppression 
by  parliamentary  methods.  I  would  rather  be  William 
O'Brien  in  Tullamore  jail,  a  martyr  to  free  speech,  than 
the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  in  Dublin  Castle." 


3'20  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

The  Sisters  of  Charity. 

A  fair  for  the  benefit  of  a  new  St.  Vincent's 
Hospital  was  opened  in  Indianapolis  on  the  even 
ing  of  nth  June  last.  The  preparations  were 
tasteful,  and  the  ceremonies  appropriate. 

A  report  of  the  proceedings  appeared  in  the 
papers  of  the  city  next  morning,  from  which  an 
extract  is  presented.  Attention  is  called  to  the 
graceful  remarks  of  General  Harrison,  including 
the  purport  of  his  tribute  to  the  Sisters  of 
Charity. 

During  the  evening  short  addresses  were  heard 
from  General  Harrison,  Governor  Gray  and  ex- 
Governor  Porter,  who  had  accepted  an  invitation 
to  be  present.  These  gentlemen,  along  with  Rtv. 
Father  O'Donaghue  and  other  prominent  repre 
sentatives  of  the  Catholic  Church,  took  seats  upon 
the  stage  shortly  before  9  o'clock,  in  front  of  a 
large  banner  of  red,  white  and  blue,  which  con 
cealed  from  the  audience  the  dressing-room. 
Father  O'Donaghue  introduced  the  speakers  with 
a  few  happy  words. 

General  Harrison,  on  being  introduced,  said 
that  when  the  committee  had  called  upon  him  and 
asked  him  to  make  an  address  on  the  opening 
evening  of  the  fair  he  was  at  first  inclined  to  say 
that  he  had  no  time  to  make  suitable  preparation. 
But  after  a  moment's  reflection  he  considered  that 
would  not  be  a  gracious  thing  to  dot  for  the  occa 
sion  was  not  intended  to  be  one  of  personal  dis- 


THE    POLITICIAN.  321 

play,  but  one  in  which  a  great  public  charity  was 
interested.  He  felt  that  as  a  citizen  of  Indian 
apolis  he  should  lend  what  encouragement  he 
could  to  the  magnificent  enterprise  there  inaugu 
rated.  It  was  one  in  which  every  public-spirited 
citizen  should  be  concerned,  for  if  it  were  carried 
out  according  to  the  outlined  plan  it  would  be  a 
credit  to  the  State  and  city,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
great  good  it  would  accomplish.  Referring  to 
the  philanthropic  nature  of  the  enterprise  he  said 
it  called  to  his  mind  two  lines  from  Whittier: 

I  love  my  fellow-men — 

The  worst  I  know  I  would  do  good  to. 

He  closed  by  paying  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the 
deeds  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  during  the  late 
war. 

"There  was  no  battle-field  so  perilous,  or  sur 
geon's  table  so  bloody  that  these  sweet-faced 
women  were  not  there  offering  such  aid  and 
such  benefactions  as  only  a  woman's  hand  could 
minister." 

General  Harrison  and  the  Labor  Strike  of  1877. 

It  may  be  desirable  to  furnish  the  reader  some 
thing  which  will  enable  him  to  form  an  idea  of 
General  Harrison  in  his  distinctive  character  of 
citizen.  Nothing  is  of  such  universal  admission 
in  the  United  States  as  that  there  are  obligations 
peculiar  to  citizenship.  One  of  them  stands  out 
in  bold  relief — every  man  shall  hold  himself  ready 

21 


3?  2  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

to  respond  promptly  to  a  call  by  the  constituted 
authorities  to  maintain  peace  and  order,  and 
defend  life  and  property  from  threatened  vio 
lence.  In  lands  where  the  government  rests 
upon  regular  armies  this  obligation  is  of  less 
force  than  in  ours  where  there  is  no  guaranty  of 
order  except  in  the  body  of  the  people.  As 
General  Harrison's  disposition  in  this  respect  is 
well  shown  in  his  relations  to  the  great  railroad 
strike  of  1877  in  Indianapolis,  a  brief  narrative 
of  that  affair  may  be  considered  of  pertinency. 

The  movement  to  which  we  refer  began  in  the 
East.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  belief  of  railroad 
employes  that  they  were  not  receiving  a  sufficient 
compensation  for  their  labor,  and  to  right  their 
wrongs  generally  they  conceived  the  idea  of  tak 
ing  possession  of  the  property  of  the  companies, 
and  holding  it  until  the  companies  acceded  to 
their  demands.  There  is  little  doubt  that  their 
complaints  were  in  many  instances  founded  in 
right.  In  that  day  the  diversion  of  the  earnings 
of  roads  to  objects  other  than  the  support  of  the 
lines,  and  keeping  them  in  good  state,  was  more 
common  than  at  present.  Under  that  policy  the 
employe  in  a  subordinate  capacity,  the  laborer  as 
distinguished  from  the  official,  did  unquestionably 
suffer,  sometimes  from  insufficiency  of  pay,  some 
times  from  absolute  denial  of  wages  actually  due. 
The  truth  of  the  statement  is  confirmed  by  legisla 
tion  since  Jiad  looking  to  the  enforcement  of  liens 


THE    POLITICIAN.  323 

for  labor,  and  the  ready  recognition  of  such  liens 
in  the  courts. 

Spreading  rapidly  from  the  East  the  "  strike," 
as  the  movement  is  more  familiarly  called,  reached 
Pittsburg,  and  resulted  there  in  serious  loss  of  life 
and  destruction  of  property.  The  public  became 
alarmed.  Some  pretentious  railroad  towns  were 
seized  with  fear  approaching  panic.  The  unrest, 
to  speak  mildly,  that  fell  upon  Indianapolis  when, 
on  the  23d  July,  the  Union  depot  of  the  city  was 
taken  possession  of  by  "  strikers,"  may  be  imag 
ined.  The  feeling  was  intensified  by  the  arbitrary 
stoppage  and  detention  of  freight  trains,  and  the 
consequent  suspension  of  commerce.  The  only 
medium  left  for  communication  with  the  world 
outside  was  the  telegraph,  and  that  told  of  mobs 
in  the  streets  of  Chicago  and  Louisville  and  else 
where.  How  lon^  was  the  condition  of  sie^e  to 

o  o 

last?  Nobody  could  answer.  There  was  a 
universal  cry  that  something  should  be  done,  and 
done  immediately. 

The  cry,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  was  not  against 
the  body  of  the  strikers,  most  of  whom  were 
known  as  residents  of  the  city,  interested  in  its 
safety — orderly  men,  heads  of  families — but 
against  the  lawless  element  who  saw  nameless 
opportunities  in  the  disturbance.  The  very 
presence  of  this  latter  class  was  a  menace  to  life 
and  property. 

Hon.  John   Caven   was  mayor   of  the  city,  a 


324  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

careful,  prudent  man,  not  easily  alarmed.  On 
the  24th  he  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  meeting 
of  citizens  to  consult  as  to  measures  for  public 
safety.  The  object,  it  was  expressly  stated  in  the 
call,  was  to  adopt  "measures  for  the  protection 
of  life  and  property."  Further,  in  his  address  to 
the  mass  meeting  that  responded,  he  said  he  had 
no  fears  from  the  strikers  proper;  but  "there 
was  a  vicious  element  of  population  that  was 
ready  to  do  any  act  of  violence  for  the  purpose 
of  plunder,  and  there  was  danger  that  such  might 
take  advantage  of  the  strike  to  carry  out  their 
schemes."  He  concluded  by  suggesting  the 
appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Safety,  and  that 
companies  be  formed  for  military  duty,  if  the 
exigency  should  require  such  a  resort. 

The  meeting  was  irrespective  of  parties,  and 
when  a  committee  of  twenty-five  was  chosen  it 
was  composed  of  Democrats  and  Republicans; 
there  was  in  fact  no  thought  of  politics  in  the 
affair.  And  that  the  object  in  the  military 
organization  was  not  the  levying  of  arms  against 
the  strikers,  with  intent  to  march  upon  them  and 
shoot  them  down,  is  well  proven  by  a  motion  of 
Hon.  Franklin  Landers,  a  distinguished  Demo 
crat,  that  a  committee  of  ten  of  the  most  prudent 
that  could  be  selected  be  appointed,  "  to  confer 
with  the  committee  of  the  strikers  in  a  friendly 
spirit,"  and  ascertain  what  their  demands  were, 
and  endeavor  to  arbitrate  between  them  and  the 


THE    POLITICIAN.  325 

railroad  companies.  General  Harrison  was 
chosen  one  of  this  latter  committee. 

Next  day  the  two  committees,  one  on  the  part 
of  the  citizens,  the  other  for  the  strikers,  met  in 
the  city  council  chamber.  In  the  course  of  the 
conference,  as  the  newspapers  reported,  "  Gen 
eral  Harrison  made  an  eloquent  and  logical 
speech  of  some  length.  He  counselled  obedience 
to  the  law,  but  at  the  same  time  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  wages  stated  were  too  low,  and 
desired  very  much  that  they  should  be  raised. 
He  was  willing  to  use  his  influence  with  those  in 
authority  in  favor  of  this  desired  increase." 

Another  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  on  the 
26th  of  July,  and,  like  the  first  one,  it  was  irre 
spective  of  party.  An  Executive  Committee  was 
appointed.  Judge  W.  Q.  Gresham,  Senator  Jo 
seph  McDonald,  General  Harrison,  and  others 
of  like  character,  were  placed  upon  it.  On  the 
same  day  the  State  authorities  took  action.  The 
following  proclamation  was  issued  by  Governor 
James  D.  Williams: 

THE  STATE  OF  INDIANA, 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

A  PROCLAMATION  by  the  Governor  relative  to  certain  disturbances  of  the 
peace  by  striking  employes  of  railroad  companies 

To  the  People  of  Indiana  : 

Many  disaffected  employes  of  railroad  companies  doing  business  in  this 
State  have  renounced  their  employments  because  of  alleged  grievances, 
and  have  oonspired  to  enforce  their  demands  by  detaining  trains  of  their 
late  employers,  seizing  and  controlling  their  property,  intimidating  their 
managers,  prohibiting  by  violence  their  attempts  to  conduct  their  business, 


326  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

and  driving  away  passengers  and  freight  offered  for  transportation.  The 
peace  of  the  community  is  seriously  disturbed  by  these  lawless  acts. 
Every  class  of  society  is  made  to  suffer.  The  comfort  and  happiness  of 
many  families  not  parties  to  the  grievances  are  sacrificed.  A  controversy 
which  belongs  to  our  courts,  or  to  the  province  of  peaceful  arbitration  or 
negotiation  is  made  the  excuse  for  an  obstruction  of  trade  and  travel  over 
the  chartered  commercial  highways  of  our  State.  The  commerce  of  the 
entire  country  is  interfered  with  and  the  reputation  of  our  community  is 
threatened  with  dishonor  among  our  neighbors.  This  disregard  of  law 
and  the  rights  and  privileges  of  our  citizens  and  those  of  sister  States  can 
not  be  tolerated.  The  machinery  provided  by  law  for  the  adjustment  of 
private  grievances  must  be  used  as  the  only  resort  against  debtors,  indi 
vidual  or  corporate.  The  process  of  the  courts  is  deemed  sufficient  for  the 
enforcement  of  civil  remedies,  as  well  as  the  penalties  of  the  criminal  code, 
and  must  be  executed  equally  in  each  case.  To  the  end  that  the  existing 
combination  be  dissolved  and  destroyed  in  its  lawless  form,  I  invoke  the 
aid  of  all  the  law-abiding  citizens  of  our  State.  I  ask  that  they  denounce 
and  condemn  this  infraction  of  public  order,  and  endeavor  to  dissuade 
these  offenders  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  our  State  from  further  acts 
of  lawlessness. 

To  the  Judiciary  :  I  appeal  for  the  prompt  and  rigid  administration  of 
justice  in  proceedings  of  this  nature. 

To  the  Sheriffs  of  the  Several  Counties  :  I  commend  a  careful  study  of 
the  duties  imposed  upon  them  by  statute,  which  they  have  sworn  to  dis 
charge.  I  admonish  each  to  use  the  full  power  of  his  county  in  the  pres 
ervation  of  order  and  the  suppression  of  breaches  of  the  peace,  assuring 
them  of  my  hearty  co-operation  with  the  power  of  the  Stale  at  my  com 
mand,  when  satisfied  that  occasion  requires  its  exercise. 

To  those  who  have  arrayed  themselves  against  government  and  are  sub 
verting  law  and  order  and  the  best  interests  of  society  by  the  waste  and 
destruction  of  property,  the  derangement  of  trains  and  the  ruin  of  all  classes 
of  labor,  I  appeal  for  an  immediate  abandonment  of  their  unwise  and 
unlawful  confederation.  I  convey  to  them  the  voice  of  the  law,  which 
they  cannot  afford  to  disregard.  I  trust  that  its  admonition  may  be  so 
promptly  heeded  that  a  resort  to  extreme  measures  will  be  unnecessary, 
and  that  the  authority  of  the  law  and  the  dignity  of  the  State,  against 
which  they  have  so  grievously  offended,  may  be  restored  and  duly  respected 
hereafter. 

Given  at  Indianapolis  this  26th  day  of  July,  1877.  Witness  the  seal 
of  the  State  and  the  signature  of  the  Governor. 

JAMES  D.  WILLIAMS. 


THE    POLITICIAN.  327 

This  calmly  worded  proclamation  was  issued 
on  the  third  day  of  the  suspension  of  railway  ser 
vice  in  Indianapolis.     The  strike  meantime  had 
extended  to  Terre  Haute.     In  other  words,  it  was 
no  longer  a  local  affair.     There  was  danger  that 
it  would  involve  the  State.     With  this  view  of  it, 
Governor  Williams  took  immediate  steps  to  make 
his  official   warning  respected.     He   resolved  to 
provide  a  military  force.     The  State  was  full  of 
experienced   soldiers,  but  appreciating  the   need 
of  a  chief  officer  who  had  something  more  than 
experience,  who  was  in  nature  prudent,  judicious, 
conservative,   he  addressed  a    note    to    General 
Harrison,    which    we  give    as    undoubtedly    the 
highest  personal  tribute  he  ever  received,  coming 
as  it  did  not  merely  from  one  differing  from  him 
in  politics,  but  from  the  very  man  who  had  de 
feated  him  in  the  preceding  gubernatorial  race : 

STATE  OF  INDIANA, 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 

INDIANAPOLIS,  July  26,  1877. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  to  request  that  you  will  assume  command  of  all  the 
military  forces  organized  and  to  be  organized  at  the  capital  for  the  preser 
vation  of  order  and  the  protection  of  life  and  property  during  the  existing 
emergency.  JAMES  D.  WILLIAMS, 

Governor. 
To  Gen.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

Proceeding  as  it  did  from  the  Executive  of  the 
State,  the  letter  must  be  construed  as  evidence 
that  the  "  strike  "  had  passed  beyond  the  control 
of  the  civil  authorities.  Indeed,  the  Governor 


328  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

expressly  affirmed  this  fact  in  a  succeeding  paper 
of  the  same  date. 

General  Harrison  declined  the  commission  with 
due  acknowledgments,  and  upon  the  ground  that 
he  was  then  captain  of  a  military  company  organ 
ized,  under  call  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  for  the 
protection  of  life  and -property.  He  also  recom 
mended  the  appointment  of  General  Daniel  Ma- 
cauley  to  command  the  militia.  The  Governor 
acted  upon  the  suggestion,  and  issued  a  com 
mission  as  follows : 

THE  STATE  OF  INDIANA. 
To  All  Who  shall  See  these  Presents  Greeting  : 

Whereas,  I  have  been  officially  informed  of  the  existence  in  Marion  and 
adjoining  counties  of  an  unlawful  combination  of  disaffected  employes  of 
railroad'  companies  whose  lines  centre  at  the  capital,  which  threatens  the 
property  and  lives  of  the  community,  and  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  civil 
authorities  to  control,  and  may  require  the  use  of  the  militia; 

Therefore,  Know  ye  that  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  State 
aforesaid,  I  do  hereby  appoint  and  commission  Daniel  Macauiey,  of  Marion 
county,  a  Brigadier-General  of  the  Indiana  Legion,  to  command  the  or 
ganized  militia,  to  serve  as  such  from  the  26ih  diy  of  July,  1877,  and  until 
the  emergency  requiring  this  appointment  shall  have  passed. 

In  witness  whereof,  1  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused  to  be 
affixed  the  seal  of  the  State,  at  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  this  26th  day  of 
July,  in  the  year  of  Lord  1877,  the  sixty-first  of  the  State,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  the  one  hundred  and  second. 

JAMES  D.  WILLIAMS. 

The  motive  of  the  declination  by  General  Har 
rison  was  past  doubt  that,  while  his  connection 
with  the  military  sufficiently  identified  him  with 
the  law  and  order  party,  he  did  not  want  to  an 
tagonize  the  orood  men  amongst  the  strikers  to  a 

C>  £3  O 

degree  putting  out  of  his  power  to  assist  all  he 


THE    POLITICIAN.  329 

could  in  a  peaceable  settlement  of  the  trouble. 
With  this  latter  object  he  continued  a  member 
of  the  committee  appointed,  as  has  been  seen,  to 
confer  with  the  committee  of  the  strikers. 

General  Macauley  called  out  several  militia 
companies,  and  the  drilling  went  on  industriously. 
To  support  him,  in  case  of  need,  a  company  of 
United  States  regulars  marched  into  the  city,  in 
compliance  with  a  request  from  Governor  Wil 
liams.  While  these  serious  preparations  were 
in  progress,  conferences  with  the  strikers  were 
unremitted.  In  one  of  them,  on  the  27th  of 
July,  a  report  was  presented  offering  a  basis  of 
arrangement.  After  insisting  that  all  unlawful 
means  for  redress  must  be  first  abandoned,  the 
conference  committee  of  citizens  pledged  them 
selves  to  exert  their  whole  power  and  influence 
to  obtain  satisfaction  for  the  strikers,  and  espe 
cially  the  increase  of  wages  sought.  This  offer 
was  accepted,  and  the  Union  depot  given  up. 
Traffic  was  resumed. 

On  the  29th  of  July  the  Committee  of  Safety 
published  an  address  stating  that  order  was  re 
stored,  and  congratulating  the  public  that  it  had 
been  done  without  bloodshed.  The  committee 
declared  also  that  the  "  strikers "  were  not  the 
dangerous  element  which  they  feared.  They 
thereupon  dissolved  their  organization. 

That  the  committee  was  constituted  of  good 
men,  irrespective  of  party — of  Democrats  and 


33°  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Republicans — of  men  who  wanted  order  and 
abhorred  bloodshed,  the  signatures  of  the  address 
amply  established.  Here  they  are:  T.  A.  Mor 
ris,  Benjamin  Harrison,  John  Love,  Joseph  E. 
McDonald,  Walter  Q.  Gresham,  Conrad  Baker, 
and  A.  W.  Hendricks. 

These  gentlemen  were  all  equally  energetic  in 
bringing  the  peaceable  solution  about.  While 
General  Harrison  did  not  shirk  duty  in  connec 
tion  with  the  military,  it  cannot  be  said  that  he 
at  any  time  counselled  violence  or  was  the  enemy 
of  the  strikers.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  tireless 
in  efforts  to  secure  peace  without  fighting  while 
the  strike  was  on,  and  redress  for  the  strikers 
when  all  was  over.  As  has  been  said,  he  was  at 
the  same  time  a  firm  supporter  of  the  govern 
ment  and  a  true  and  efficient  friend  of  the  men 
engaged  in  the  movement. 

His  feelings  towards  the  railroaders  may  be 
fairly  inferred  from  a  circumstance  shortly  suc 
ceeding  the  strike. 

o 

It  happened  that  some  of  the  railways  involved 
were  at  the  time  in  charge  of  the  United  States 
Court  through  receivers.  Judge  Drummond  had 
a  number  of  the  men,  supposed  to  be  leaders, 
brought  before  him  for  contempt.  General  Har 
rison  appeared  for  them  voluntarily.  He  argued 
that  they  were  all  good  men  ;  that  their  claims 
were  founded  in  justice ;  that  they  erred  simply 
in  the  course  taken  to  recover  their  dues.  He 


THE    POLITICIAN.  331 

begged  that  they  be  not  punished.  The  Judge 
viewed  his  plea  favorably,  and  discharged  them 
from  arrest.  They  went  to  the  General  then, 
and  thanked  him  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in 
their  behalf. 

During  the  session  of  the  Committee  of  Safety 
there  were  hotheaded  people  who  wanted  the 
militia  sent  against  the  strikers.  This  General 
Harrison  opposed  vehemently.  He  urged  that 
a  peaceable  settlement  was  possible,  and  declared, 
"I  don't  propose  to  go  out  and  shoot  down  my 
neighbors  when  there  is  nc  necessity  for  it." 

In  confirmation  of  the  above  statements,  we 
have  certain  accounts  derived  from  Senator 
Joseph  E.  McDonald.  That  gentleman  says  : 

I  was  associated  with  General  Harrison  in  conferences 
with  the  strikers,  and  throughout  he  advised  a  peaceful 
settlement  of  the  trouble.  I  have  no  recollection  of  his 
using  any  bloodthirsty  language  or  insulting  any  repre 
sentatives  of  the  strikers  during  our  conferences. 

Mr.  McDonald  also  says  of  this  matter: 

I  don't  think  that  will  cut  much  of  a  figure  as  an 
issue  in  this  campaign.  The  situation  was  threatening 
in  Indianapolis  then,  and  a  committee  on  public  safety 
was  organized.  There  was  a  sub-committee  appointed 
to  endeavor  to  arrange  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  diffi 
culty,  if  possible,  and  to  take  what  measures  might  be 
necessary  to  protect  the  public  interests.  Ben  Harrison, 
ex-Governor  Porter,  ex-Governor  Baker,  Franklin  Lan 
ders  (afterward  Democratic  candidate  for  governor),  and 
myself  were  that  committee.  We  met  a  committee  of 
the  strikers  in  the  Council  chamber  in  a  public  confer- 


33 2  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

ence.  I  talked  to  them,  and  told  them  that  we  sympa 
thized  with  them  and  recognized  their  right  to  quit  work 
if  they  were  not  satisfied  with  their  wages  or  their  em 
ployers  ;  but  that  they  had  no  right  to  prevent  other 
men  from  working,  and  that  when  they  attempted  to  do 
so  they  became  law-breakers.  General  Harrison  and  the 
others  also  talked  to  them  in  the  same  strain. 

As  late  as  the  2Qth  of  June  last,  Mr.  McDonald 
supplements  the  foregoing: 

The  organization  of  that  committee  was  for  the  pur 
pose  of  providing  protection  for  the  city  and  property, 
if  an  emergency  should  arise  to  make  such  action  neces 
sary.  It  was  not  anticipated  that  any  riot  would  be  pre 
cipitated  by  the  strikers,  but  beyond  them,  for  which 
they  were  in  nowise  responsible,  was  a  danger  that  had 
to  be  guarded  against.  It  was  on  that  account,  and  that 
alone,  that  the  committee  was  organized.  From  its 
members  a  sub-committee  of  five,  consisting  of  General 
Harrison,  Albert  G.  Porter,  Franklin  Landers,  ex-Gover 
nor  Baker  and  myself,  was  chosen  to  consult  with  the 
strikers  in  order  to  bring  about  a  peaceable  solution  of  the 
difficulty.  All  of  us  on  that  committee  were  in  accord, 
and  our  relations  with  the  strikers  were  pleasant  Every 
member  of  the  committee  was  in  favor  of  peace,  and 
there  was  no  divergence  of  opinion. 

The  conduct  of  General  Harrison  in  his  capa 
city  of  citizen  given  above  is  in  thorough  keeping 
with  his  action  in  behalf  of  laboring  men  during 
his  United  States  Senatorial  term.  In  this  latter, 
he  lost  no  opportunity  of  manifesting  interest  in 
their  behalf.  The  following  synopsis  will  sustain 
the  assertion : 

March  8,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  said:  "  I  present  a  re- 


THE   POLITICIAN.  333 

solution  adopted  by  the  Fair-play  Assembly  of  Knights 
of  Labor,  of  Goshen,  Ind.,  not  formally  addressed  to  the 
Senate,  but  evidently  intended  for  its  consideration,  in  re 
lation  to  Chinese  immigration  and  other  bills  pending  in 
Congress  affecting  the  laboring  classes.  I  ask  that  the 
paper  be  received  and  referred  to  the  committee  on  for 
eign  relations." — [Rec.,  p.  2168.] 

March  31,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial 
of  Knights  of  Labor  of  Wabash,  Ind.,  remonstrating 
against  the  passage  of  the  free-ship  bill,  which  was  re 
ferred  to  the  committee  on  commerce. — [Rec.,  p.  2900.] 

April  I,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial  of 
Knights  of  Labor  of  Andrews,  Ind.,  remonstrating  against 
the  passage  of  the  free-ship  bill,  which  was  referred  to  the 
committee  on  commerce,  and  said:  "I  present  certain 
resolutions,  certified  by  the  recording  secretary  and  under 
the  seal  of  the  assembly  of  Wabash  Assembly,  No.  2281, 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  praying 
Congress  to  pass  a  law  prohibiting  aliens  or  their  agents 
from  securing  vast  tracts  of  the  public  domain.  I  believe 
this  subject  is  under  consideration  by  the  committee  on 
public  lands  at  this  time,  and  I  will  ask  the  reference  of 
the  resolutions  to  that  committee." 

Mr.  Dolph. — A  bill  on  the  subject  has  been  reported. 

Mr.  Harrison. — I  am  advised  by  the  Senator  from  Ore 
gon  that  the  bill  has  been  reported.  I  ask  leave  to  say 
at  this  time  that  I  know  of  few  measures  of  greater  im 
portance  than  this.  I  noticed  recently  in  one  of  the 
Chicago  papers  the  results  of  some  inquiry  upon  this 
subject,  and  it  seemed  to  indicate  that  vast  tracts  of  our 
domain,  not  simply  the  public  domain  on  the  frontier,  but 
in  some  of  our  newer  States,  are  passing  into  the  hands 
of  wealthy  foreigners.  It  seems  that  the  land  reforms  in 
Ireland,  and  the  movement  in  England  in  favor  of  the 
reduction  of  large  estates  and  the  distribution  of  the 
lands  among  persons  who  will  cultivate  them  for  their 
own  use,  are  disturbing  the  investments  of  some  English 
men,  and  that  some  of  them  are  looking  to  this  country 
for  the  acquisition  of  vast  tracts  of  land  which  may  be 
held  by  them  and  let  out  to  tenants,  out  of  the  rents  of 


334  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

which  they  may  live  abroad.  I  think  this  evil  requires 
early  attention,  and  that  Congress  should,  by  law,  restrain 
the  acquisition  of  such  tracts  of  land  by  aliens.  Our 
policy  should  be  small  farms,  worked  by  the  men  who 
own  them.  As  the  bill  has  been  reported,  I  move  that 
the  resolutions  lie  on  the  table. — [Rec.,  p.  2982.]  * 

April  6,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  memorials  of 
Knights  of  Labor,  of  Elkhart,  Jeffersonville,  and  Carbon, 
in  the  State  of  Indiana,  remonstrating  against  the  passage 
of  the  free-ship  bill,  which  were  referred  to  the  committee 
on  commerce. 

Pie  also  presented  a  petition  of  Knights  of  Labor  of 
Jeffersonville,  Ind.,  praying  that  liberal  appropriations  be 
made  for  works  of  internal  improvement,  and  especially 
for  the  construction  of  the  Hennepin  Canal,  which  was 
referred  to  the  committee  on  commerce. 

He  also  presented  a  petition  of  Knights  of  Labor  of 
Carbon,  Ind.,  praying  that  liberal  appropriations  be  made 
for  public  works,  and  especially  for  the  construction  of  a 
harbor  of  refuge  at  Sandy  bay,  Rockport,  Mass.,  which 
was  referred  to  the  committee  on  commerce. 

He  also  presented  a  memorial  of  Knights  of  Labor  at 
Carbon,  Ind. — [Rec.,  p.  3136.] 

April  7,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  memorials  of 
Knights  of  Labor  of  Frankfort  and  South  Bend,  in  the 
State  of  Indiana,  remonstrating  against  the  passage  of 
the  free-ship  bill,  which  were  referred  to  the  committee 
on  commerce. — [Rec.,  p.  3175.] 

April  IO,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial 
of  Knights  of  Labor  of  Cardonia,  Ind.,  remonstrating 
against  the  passage  of  the  free-ship  bill,  which  was  re 
ferred  to  the  committee  on  commerce.  He  said  :  "  I  pre 
sent  also  the  petition  of  C.  H.  Buthenbender  and  ten  other 
officers  and  members  of  the  three  local  assemblies  of 
Knights  of  Labor  at  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  praying  for  the 
speedy  passage  of  the  bill  providing  for  the  arbitration 
of  all  labor  disputes.  The  House  bill  on  this  subject,  I 
understand,  has  been  reported  favorably  by  our  commit 
tee  on  education  and  labor  and  is  now  upon  the  calendar. 
The  petition  will,  therefore,  under  the  rules,  lie  upon  the 
table. 


THE    POLITICIAN.  335 

Mr.  Cullom. — There  is  another  bill  on  the  same  subject 
which  was  referred  to  the  select  committee  on  interstate 
commerce,  and  has  not  yet  been  reported ;  but  probably 
the  petition  may  as  well  lie  on  the  table. 

Mr.  Harrison. — As  the  petition  relates  especially  to  the 
House  bill  I  have  referred  to,  I  suggest  that  it  lie  upon 
the  table.  I  do  not  desire  to  anticipate  the  discussion  of 
that  measure,  which  will  soon  come  before  the  Senate, 
but  the  startling  occurrences  of  which  we  have  accounts 
from  day  to  day  in  the  newspapers  are  turning  the  atten 
tion  of  all  lovers  of  good  order  and  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  to  the  necessity  of  providing  some  method 
of  harmonizing  the  interests  of  the  working  classes  and 
of  the  employers  of  labor.  Arbitration  is  the  only  method 
that  seems  to  be  open  for  the  peaceful,  and  speedy,  and 
just  settlement  of  such  disputes.  Arbitration,  of  course, 
must  precede  strikes.  It  implies  calmness,  and  that  is  not 
to  be  found  when  the  contest  is  once  inaugurated  and 
passions  are  aroused.  I  think  so  far  as  we  can  contribute 
by  any  congressional  legislation  to  securing  the  just  set 
tlement  by  arbitration  of  all  labor  troubles  we  shall  con 
tribute  greatly  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  coun 
try.— [Rec.,  p.  3349.] 

April  19,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial 
of  Knights  of  Labor  of  Snoddy's  Mill,  Ind.,  remonstrat 
ing  against  the  passage  of  the  free-ship  bill ;  which  was 
referred  to  the  committee  on  commerce. 

He  also  presented  a  memorial  of  the  Knights  of  Labor 
of  South  Bend,  Ind.,  remonstrating  against  the  employ 
ment  of  convict  labor  on  public  works;  which  was  re 
ferred  to  the  com-mittee  on  education  and  labor. — [Rec., 

P-  3598-] 

April  21,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial 
of  Knights  of  Labor,  of  Elkhart,  Ind.,  remonstrating 
against  the  passage  of  the  free-ship  bill;  which  was  ie- 
ferred  to  the  committee  on  commerce. 

He  also  presented  a  memorial  of  Knights  of  Labor, 
of  Elkhart,  Ind.,  remonstrating  against  the  employment 
of  convict  labor  on  public  works ;  which  was  referred 
to  the  committee  on  education  and  labor. — [Rec.,  p. 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

April  22,  1 886. —Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial 
of  Knights  of  Labor,  of  Logansport,  Ind.,  remonstrat 
ing  against  the  passage  of  the  free-ship  bill ;  which 
was  referred  to  the  committee  on  commerce. — Rec.,  p. 

3/I3-]. 

April  30,  1886. — Mr.  Harrison  presented  a  memorial 
of  Knights  of  Labor,  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.t  remonstrat 
ing  against  the  employment  on  public  works  of  prison- 
contract  labor;  which  was  referred  to  the  committee  on 
education  and  labor. — [Rec.,  p.  3999.] 

In  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  memorial 
from  the  Knights  of  Labor  assemblies,  Senator 
Harrison  took  occasion  to  express  his  concur 
rence  in  the  opinion  expressed  in  the  memorials, 
that  American  ships  should  be  built  by  American 
\vorkmen,  as  appears  in  the  above  record ;  and 
in  response  received  from  some  of  the  assemblies 
a  resolution  of  thanks.  He  also  supported  the 
bill,  now  become  a  law,  prohibiting  the  importa 
tion  of  foreign  laborers  under  contracts  made 
abroad  to  render  service  in  this  country.  This 
measure  was  one  that  attracted  the  widest  inter 
est  among  the  labor  organizations  in  this  country. 

The  Chinese  Question. 

In  the  winter  of  1868  San  Francisco  was  agi 
tated  by  a  startling  rumor.  It  was  reported  that 
a  Chinese  delegation,  of  the  most  Mandarin  sort, 
was  preparing  to  visit  the  United  States,  with 
Anson  Burlingame  at  its  head.  The  object  was 
to  draw  the  two  governments  into  closer  com 
mercial  relations.  The  Occidental  imagination  is 


THE    POLITICIAN.  337 

proverbially  quick  at  building  upon  suggestions. 
The  illustrious  child  of  the  Sun,  the  August  Sover 
eign  of  the  mighty  Ta-Tsing  Empire,  had  at  last 
been  beguiled  into  throwing  open  the  gates  of  his 
flowery  land ;  the  almond-eyed  folk  had  fallen  in 
love  with  the  Americans,  and  would  now  come  to 
see  them,  bringing  presents  in  the  shape  of  ex 
clusive  advantages,  out  of  which  wealth  would 
pour  in  vaster  tide  than  had  flooded  the  English 
in  the  golden  days  of  the  East  India  Company. 
The  same  rich  imagination  wove  scarfs  and  gar 
ments  of  cloth  of  gold,  and  wrapped  them  about 
the  form  of  the  hero  who,  having  gone  forth  a 
plain  minister  of  the  United  States  to  Imperial 
China,  was  now  returning  a  stately  Prince  of 
Princes,  to  whose  diplomatic  address  and  honey 
sweetness  generally  the  marvellous  seduction  was 
to  be  altogether  attributed.  Great  was  the  silk- 
clad  child  of  the  Ta-Tsing!  Great  was  Anson 
Burlingame  ! 

The  rumors  at  length  became  facts.  On  the 
28th  of  April,  1868,  a  banquet  was  given  at  the 
Lick  House  in  San  Francisco  in  honor  of  the 
Hon.  Anson  Burlingame,  which  is  yet  a  tradi 
tional  splendor  of  the  "sun-down"  city.  If  the 
reader  will  let  his  eyes  drop  through  the  follow 
ing  partial  list  of  guests  in  attendance  on  the  occa 
sion  referred  to  he  will  understand  what  we  would 
convey  without  requiring  us  to  exhaust  our  poor 
vocabulary. 


22 


338  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

Governor  Haight,  Hon.  Anson  Burlingame, 
His  Excellency  Chili  Tajen,  Minister  of  the 
Second  Rank ;  J.  McLeary  Brown,  First  Secre 
tary  of  Legation ;  His  Excellency  Sun  Tajen, 
Minister  of  the  Second  Rank  ;  E.  de  Champs, 
Second  Secretary  of  Legation  ;  Frank  McCoppin, 
Mayor  of  San  Francisco;  S.  F.  Butterworth ; 
Henry  Barroilhet,  Consul  of  Peru  ;  Don  Jose  A. 
Godoy,  Consul  of  Mexico  ;  G.  C.  Johnson,  Consul 
of  Norway  and  Sweden ;  William  L.  Booker, 
Consul  of  the  British  Empire ;  Henry  W.  Hal- 
leek,  General  commanding  the  Division  of  the 
Pacific;  H.  K.  Thatcher,  Admiral  commanding 
the  American  Squadron  on  this  coast;  Ogden 
Hoffman,  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
United  States;  Delos  Lake,  District  Atorney  of 
the  United  States ;  General  McCook,  United 
States  Minister  to  the  Sandwich  Islands ;  Francis 
Berton,  Consul  of  Switzerland  ;  C.  F.  Mebius, 
Consul  of  Bavaria ;  James  de  Fremery,  Consul 
of  Belgium  ;  R.  B.  Swain,  Superintendent  of  the 
Mint ;  R.  G.  Sneath,  President  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce ;  Thomas  H.  Selby,  President  of 
the  Merchants'  Exchange;  Oliver  Eldridge, 
Alvinza  Hayward,  James  P.  Pierce,  Eugene  L, 
Sullivan,  Judge  J.  S.  Hager,  Edward  Tompkins, 
Brigadier-General  Leonard,  Major-General  W. 
S.  Rosecrans,  Charles  Meinecke,  Consul  of  the 
Republic  of  Bremen  ;  Charles  E.  Hitchcock,  Con 
sul  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands ;  Major-General  John 


THE    POLITICIAN.  339 

F.  Miller,  Collector  of  the  Port;  ex-Governor  F. 
F.  Low,  Judge  Sawyer,  of  the  Supreme  Court; 
Judge  Currey,  Senators  Tubbs  and  Rose,  W.  C. 
Ralston,  ex-Congressman  William  A.  Howard,  of 
Michigan  ;  A.  Stanford,  Paymaster  Doran,  Philip 
W.  Stanford,  Major-General  Ord,  Alpheus  Bull, 
and  others. 

And  there  were  nuts,  wines,  fruits  and  flowers, 
the  skimming  of  the  vineyards  and  orchards  of 
the  Pacific  slope ;  and  of  what  worth  are  nuts, 
wines,  fruits  and  flowers  at  a  banquet  without 
speeches  ?  So  there  were  speeches.  The  reader 
should  not  pass  the  annexed  extracts  from  the 
few  of  the  many  deliverances  that  went  to  make 
that  banquet  a  joy  in  memory  forever. 

General  Halleck  :  "  Not  many  years  ago  these 
Asiatic  nations  were  excluded  from  the  pale  of 
European  international  jurisprudence.  It  was 
held  by  European  statesmen,  and  the  doctrine  was 
advocated  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachu 
setts,  that  Christian  powers  had  a  right  to  compel 
these  un-Christian  powers  to  trade  with  them  in 
such  articles  and  on  such  terms  as  they  might  see 
fit  to  dictate.  ...  I  regard  this  as  the  death  of 
this  idea,  as  one  of  the  most  important  movements 
of  recent  times.  It  has  broken  down  the  barriers 
of  Oriental  and  Occidental  prejudice,  and  it  will 
eventually  lead  to  the  harmony  and  civilization 
of  the  world.  ...  If  that  civilization,  which  has 
so  long  moved  westward  with  the  star  of  empire, 


34°  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

is  now  purified  by  the  principles  of  true  Christian 
ity  ...  San  Francisco  must  be  made  the  abut- 
.ment,  from  which  is  to  be  sprung  forward  the 
great  international  law  which  is  to  bridge  across 
the  Pacific  Ocean." 

Governor  Haight :  "A  vast  commerce  is  to  be 
developed  between  China  and  the  other  nations 
of  the  earth;  and  California  was  to  be  especially 
benefited  by  it." 

Minister  Burlingame:  "The  fraternal  feeling 
of  4oo,ooo>,ooo  of  people  has  commenced  to  flow 
through  the  land  of  Washington  to  the  older- 
nations  of  the  West,  and  it  will  flow  on  forever. 
Who  is  there  that  would  check  it  ?  Who  is  there 
that  would  say  to  China :  We  wish  to  have  no 
other  relations  with  you  than  such  as  we  establish 
on  our  partial,  and  mean,  and  cruel  interests  at 
the  cannon's  mouth  ?  I  trust  there  are  none  such 
as  these.  I  believe  rather  that  this  generous 
nation  is  a  better  exponent  of  the  wishes  of  the 
West.  I  believe  it  represents  more  truly  that 
large  and  generous  spirit  which  is  not  too  proud 
to  learn  and  which  is  not  afraid  to  teach ;  that 
great  spirit  which,  while  it  would  exchange  goods 
with  China,  would  also  exchange  thoughts  with 
China,  that  would  inquire  carefully  into  the  cause 
of  that  sobriety  and  industry  of  which  you  have 
made  mention,  that  would  learn  something  of  the 
long  experience  of  that  people." 

If  we  have  indulged  somewhat  in  badinage  it  is 


THE    POLITICIAN.  341 

because  Californians  with  their  great  generous 
hearts  are  not  easily  affronted.  He  who  is  to-day 
a  part  of  that  marvellous  success  of  the  XIX. 
century,  California,  cannot  only  bear  to  be  smiled 
at  in  a  good-natured  way,  but  can  endure  to  be 
told,  as  we  now  tell  him,  that  if  his  countrymen 
east  of  the  Mississippi  have  been  slow  to  realize 
the  magnitude  of  the  Chinese  curse,  his  own  lights, 
political  and  commercial,  are  primarily  responsi 
ble  for  it.  They  were  masters  of  ceremony  at  its 
introduction  into  all  the  Americas.  They  were 
the  first  to  see  a  man  and  brother  in  the  coolie. 
With  this  gentle  reminder  the  badinage  may  be 
dropped. 

Mr.  Burlingame,  as  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Emperor  of  China, 
supported  by  Chih-Kang  and  Sun  Chia-Ku,  "  of 
the  second  Chinese  rank,"  brought  with  him  a 
new  treaty  of  sundry  articles,  from  which  two 
passages  are  extracted : 

"Article  V.  The  United  States  of  America  and  the 
Emperor  of  China  cordially  recognize  the  inherent  and 
inalienable  right  of  man  to  change  his  home  and  alle 
giance,  and  also  the  mutual  advantage  of  the  free  migra 
tion  and  emigration  of  their  citizens  and  subjects,  re 
spectively,  from  the  one  country  to  the  other,  for  pur 
poses  of  curiosity,  of  trade  or  as  permanent  residents"  .  . 

"Article  VI And,  reciprocally,  Chinese  sub 
jects,  visiting  or  residing  in  the  United  States,  shall 
enjoy  the  same  privileges,  immunities  and  exemptions  in 
respect  to  travel  or  residence,  as  may  there  be  enjoyed 
by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  most  favored  nations." 
[See  Laws  of  the  U.  S.,  69-71,  p.  392.] 


342  BENJAMIN    HARRISON.      - 

The  special  mission  of  Envoy  Burlingame  was 
to  have  that  treaty  signed  by  the  United  States, 
and  he  succeeded.  William  H.  Seward  was  sig 
natory  on  the  one  part,  and  Anson  Burlingame 
and  his  associate  high  envoys  served  the  other 
party  in  like  manner. 

At  length  the  people  of  the  Pacific  States  awoke 
from  the  delusion  which  prevailed,  as  we  have 
seen,  at  the  Lick  House  banquet  of  April,  1868. 
The  Chinese  were  not  lovely  at  all  ;  they  were 
abominable,  and  it  was  resolved  to  get  rid  of 
them.  A  bill  for  the  purpose  was  introduced  into 
Congress,  and  finally  passed.  The  first  section 
contains  these  words:  "That  from  and  after  the 
expiration  of  ninety  days  next  after  the  passage 
of  this  act,  the  coming  of  Chinese  laborers  to  the 
United  States  be,  and  the  same  is,  hereby,  sus 
pended." 

The  act  is  known  as  the  Chinese  restriction 
law  of  May  6,  1882.  At  the  time  of  its  intro 
duction  and  all  through  its  pendency,  General 
Harrison  was  a  Senator  from  Indiana.  The  Con 
gressional  Record  shows  that  he  was  opposed  to 
it.  It  is  true  that  on  the  9th  of  March,  when  it 
was  on  passage,  he,  with  Senators  Hampton,  of 
South  Carolina,  and  Sewell,  of  New  Jersey,  was 
engaged  in  an  investigation  at  the  Soldiers'  Home, 
and  consequently  absent  when  the  final  vote  was 
taken;  yet  it  is  also  true  that  on  the  5th  of  April 
following,  President  Arthur  having  vetoed  the 


THE    POLITICIAN.  343 

bill,  on  a  motion  to  pass  it  over  the  veto,  Senator 
Harrison  voted  nay. 

The  reason  of  his  opposition  in  that  instance 
was  simple,  yet  powerful.  To  understand  its  force, 
the  reader  must  first  compare  the  section  of  the 
act  quoted  with  Articles  V.  and  VI.  of  the  Bur- 
lingame  Treaty.  The  V.  article  recognizes  and 
recites  in  the  strongest  language  that  the  right  of 
migration  and  emigration  is  one  of  the  inalienable 
rights  of  men.  Its  effect  was  to  extend  the  great 

o  o 

American  doctrine  to  the  Chinese.  The  VI. 
article  invested  that  people  with  the  right  of 
residence  in  the  Republic  upon  an  equal  footing 
with  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  most  favored 
nations.  By  virtue  of  the  treaty,  therefore,  they 
could  come  and  go  or  stay  at  pleasure,  on  the 
same  footing,  for  instance,  as  Germans  or  French 
men.  It  was  against  this  broad  extension  of 
privilege  that  the  people  of  the  Pacific  States 
arose  in  protest,  especially  those  of  California. 
Recognizing,  nevertheless,  the  sanctity  of  the 
treaty,  steps  were  at  length  taken  by  the  United 
States  to  have  it  modified.  A  new  one  was  the 
result;  viz.,  that  of  1881.  The  chief  amendment 
therein  (Article  I.)  provides  that,  "  Whenever  in 
the  opinion  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  the  coming  of  Chinese  laborers  to  the 
United  States,  or  their  residence  therein,  affects 
or  threatens  to  affect  the  interests  of  that  country, 
or  to  endanger  the  good  order  of  the  said  country 


344  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

or  any  locality  within  the  territory  thereof,  the 
government  of  China  agrees  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  may  regulate,  limit  or  sus 
pend  such  coming  or  residence,  but  may  not  ab 
solutely  prohibit  it.  The  limitation  or  suspension 
shall  be  reasonable,  and  shall  apply  only  to  Chi 
nese  who  may  go  to  the  United  States  as  laborers, 
other  classes  not  beino-  included  in  the  limita 


tion." 


The  amendment  thus  secured  paved  the  way 
for  the  restrictive  act  of  1882,  which  President 
Arthur  promptly  vetoed. 

Senator  Harrison  participated  in  the  debate  re 
lating  to  the  President's  veto.  In  the  course  of 
his  remarks,  which  were  very  few,  we  are  informed 
of  the  reason  of  his  opposition  to  the  bill.  The 
Congressional  Record  shows  him  replying  to  Sen 
ator  Grover,  of  Oregon,  who  was  urging  that 
section  fifteen  of  the  act,  by  proper  interpretation, 
included  skilled  artisans,  to  which  the  Chinese 
Commissioners  had  objected. 

Mr.  Harrison — I  only  want  to  make  a  suggestion.  In 
the  treaty  the  word  "  laborers  "  is  used.  I  take  it  that  it 
is  not  in  the  power  of  Congress  to  enlarge  the  meaning 
of  the  word.  Whatever  it  meant  in  the  treaty  it  would 
mean  the  same  thing  as  used  in  the  law ;  we  cannot  make 
it  mean  more  than  that.  Therefore  why  not  let  it  stand 
in  the  law  as  in  the  treaty,  and  let  the  use  of  that  word 
include  what  it  will  ?  . 

And  again  : 

Mr.  Harrison — It  is  possible  that  the  Senator  is  right 
in  saying  that  the  word  may  be  construed  differently ; 


THE    POLITICIAN.  345 

but  can  we  enlarge  the  meaning  of  it  as  it  is  used  in  the 
treaty  ? 

And  again : 

Mr.  Harrison — He  (Senator  Grover)  reads  an  extract 
from  a  paper  to  the  effect  that  the  word  "  laborers,"  as 
used  in  the  treaty,  or  as  used  in  the  law,  may  be  limited 
by  a  meaning  applied  to  those  who  are  unskilled.  If  the 
courts  shpuld  so  decide,  giving  that  meaning  to  the  word 
"  laborers,"  as  used  in  the  treaty,  would  the  Senator  from 
Oregon  be  in  favor  of  going  beyond  what  we  are  author 
ized  to  do  by  treaty? — \Cong.  Rcc.,  Pt.  4,  p.  3359.] 

From  these  extracts  it  is  apparent  that  Senator 
Harrison  objected  to  the  bill,  not  upon  the  ground 
of  the  restriction  it  sought  to  cover,  but  because, 
admitting  the  correctness  of  Senator  Grover's 
claim,  it  appeared  to  him  as  fatally  attempting  to 
change  the  effect  of  the  treaty. 

Lest  the  objection  be  thought  trivial,  it  may  be 
as  well  to  see  what  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  has  said  as  to  the  controlling  force 
of  a  treaty  over  the  action  of  Congress : 

"A  treaty  is,  in  its  nature,  a  contract  between  two  na 
tions,  not  a  legislative  act.  It  does  not  generally  effect, 
of  itself,  the  object  to  be  accomplished,  especially  so  far 
as  its  operation  is  intra-territorial ;  but  is  carried  into 
execution  by  the  sovereign  power  of  the  respective  par 
ties  to  the  instrument.  In  the  United  States  a  different 
principle  is  established.  Our  Constitution  declares  a 
treaty  to  be  the  law  of  the  land.  It  is,  consequently,  to 
be  regarded  in  courts  of  justice  as  equivalent  to  an  act 
of  the  legislature,  whenever  it  operates  of  itself  without 
the  aid  of  legislative  provision.  But  when  the  terms  of 
the  stipulation  import  a  contract,  when  either  of  the  parties 
engages  to  perform  a  particular  act,  the  treaty  addresses 


346  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

itself  to  the  political,  not  the  judicial  department;  and 
the  legislature  must  execute  the  contract  before  it  can 
become  a  rule  for  the  court." — [Chief-Justice  Marshall,  in 
Foster  vs.  Neilson,  Sup.  C.  Decisions,  8th  Curtis,  121.] 
So,  too,  Justice  Miller,  in  112  U.  S.  Reports,  p.  598:  "A 
treaty  is  primarily  a  compact  between  independent  na 
tions.  It  depends  for  the  enforcement  of  its  provisions 
on  the  interest  and  the  honor  of  the  governments  which 
are  parties  to  it.  If  these  fail,  its  infraction  becomes  the 
subject  of  international  negotiations  and  reclamations,  so 
far  as  the  injured  party  chooses  to  seek  redress,  which 
may  in  the  end  be  enforced  by  war." 

General  Harrison  was  wanting  neither  more 
nor  less  than  that  the  honor  of  the  government 
should  be  cared  for  in  the  legislation  designed  to 
carry  the  treaty  of  1881  into  execution. 

In  the  course  of  the  proceedings  a  motion  was 
made  to  strike  out  section  15,  which  provides  that 
the  words  "  Chinese  laborers  "  shall  be  construed 
to  include  both  skilled  and  unskilled  laborers,  and 
Chinese  employed  in  mining;  in  other  words, 
that  the  restriction  should  be  applied  without  dis 
tinction  of  any  kind.  Senator  Harrison  voted — 
Aye. 

On  the  same  day,  April  28,  1882,  Senator  Ed 
munds  offered  an  amendment  that  nothing  in  the 
act  should  be  construed  as  changing  the  natural 
ization  laws  so  as  to  admit  Chinese  to  citizenship. 
Senator  Harrison  voted  in  favor  of  the  amend 
ment. 

We  think  it  clearly  established  by  the  foregoing 
references  that  General  Harrison's  opposition  to 


THE    POLITICIAN.  347 

the  act  of  1882  was  not  because  of  the  restriction 
proposed  per  se,  but  because  of  the  interpreta 
tion  sought  to  be  attached  to  the  word  "laborers." 
To  give  greater  significancy  to  the  interpretation, 
President  Arthur  had  declared  in  his  veto  mes 
sage  that  the  American  commissioners  inserted 
in  their  draft  cf  the  treaty  a  provision  that  the 
words  "  Chinese  laborers  "  meant  all  immigration 
other  than  that  for  "  teaching,  travel,  study,  and 
curiosity,"  to  which  the  Chinese  objected.  The 
conflict,  he  thought,  could  be  avoided  by  simple 
use  of  the  word  in  a  law  as  it  was  used  in  the 
treaty. 

That  this  was  General  Harrison's  view  is  further 
and  absolutely  confirmed  by  his  action  in  connection 
with  the  subsequent  act  (now  a  law)  of  1886.  As 
a  historical  fact,  the  bill  had  been  drafted  by  Senator 
Fair,  of  California,  and  the  three  Federal  judges 
of  the  Pacific  coast  who  were  principally  charged 
with  the  administration  of  the  law  in  reference  tc 
Chinese  immigration.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  it  represented  the  sentiment  of  the  great 
Pacific  section.  When  introduced,  it  was  referred 
to  'the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  of  which 
Senator  Harrison  was  a  member.  It  was  re 
ported  back  on  the  26th  of  May,  with  recom 
mendation  of  passage.  The  Record  shows  Sen 
ator  Harrison  absent  and  not  voting  when  it  was 
finally  considered.  But  we  are  not  left  in  doubt 
as  to  his  position  concerning  it.  Senator  Sher- 


34-8  BENJAMIN    HARRISON. 

man,  in  reporting  it  to  the  Senate,  stated  clearly 
and  distinctly  that  the  bill  had  received  the  unani 
mous  support  of  the  committee — meaning  the 
entire  committee.  This,  it  will  be  seen,  could  not 
have  been  if  Senator  Harrison  had  not  concurred 
with  all  his  colleagues. 

In  conclusion,  we  think  it  has  been  fairly  proved 
beyond  any  doubt  that  General  Harrison  is  not 
so  far  friendly  to"  the  Chinese  as  to  be  inimical 
to  the  desire  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  the  Pacific 
coast  to  restrict  the  coming  of  the  former  to  the 
United  States. 


General  Harrison  is  now  in  the  prime  of  life, 
clear  in  mind,  vigorous  of  body.  His  character, 
both  public  and  private,  is  absolutely  stainless. 
He  loves  his  family,  his  fellow-men,  his  country, 
and  his  God.  Such  a  man  cannot  be  inflated  by 
success  or  embittered  by  disappointment.  By 
acceptance  of  the  nomination  of  his  party  he  has 
signified  that  he  holds  himself  subject  to  the  pop 
ular  will.  Whether  he  is  chosen  or  set  aside  by 
the  people,  his  future  will  be  in  perfect  harmony 
with  his  past.  In  other  words, -the  writer  who 
finishes  this  biography,  beginning  where  we  leave 
off,  will  find  his  subject  exactly  what  it  has  been 
to  us — too  pleasant  to  be  accounted  a  task. 


MRS.   BENJ.   HARRISON. 


P.    MORTON: 


A    BIOGRAPHY. 

BY 

GEORGE  ALFRED  TOWNSEND. 

(GATH.) 

(349) 


HON.  LEVI   P.  MORTON, 


/npHERE  is  a  new  and  agreeable  villa  by 
1  Rhinecliff  and  near  the  old  Dutch  town  of 
Rhinebeck,  from  which  the  Catskill  mountains, 
opposite,  can  be  seen,  and  the  line  of  the  High 
lands  which  cross  the  Hudson  thirty  miles  below. 
The  villa  is  called  Ellerslie,  and  has  just  been  in 
habited  by  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton,  almost  coincident 
with  his  nomination  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 

The  incident  suggests  President  Garfield  com 
ing  to  inhabit  his  country  cottage  at  Mentor, 
whilst  the  couriers  from  the  Convention  and  re 
turning  delegates  were  also  pouring  in  at  its  doors 
with  advices  of  the  General's  nomination. 

Here  once,  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Morton,  his 
wife,  who  had  long  desired  to  give  her  children 
the  benefit  of  rustic  health  and  serenity,  heard 
that  the  old  Kelly  place  was  for  sale,  and  she 
induced  Mr.  Morton  to  come  up  and  examine 
the  property.  When  it  was  afterwards  sold  by 
auction  Mr.  Morton  was  the  purchaser. 

This  was  in  1886,  and  soon  plans  were  pre 
pared  by  the  architect,  Hunt,  and  it  took  another 
year  to  raise  the  structure  and  accessories,  thereby 

(350 


55 2  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

giving  considerable  employment  to  mechanics  and 
laborers  from  all  around. 

Ellerslie  is  a  large  house  of  115  feet  in  depth, 
by  probably  75  feet  wide,  and  it  is  built,  in  a  com 
bination  of  the  Renaissance  and  the  old  English 
styles,  the  lower  story  of  red  stone  and  the  upper 
parts  of  plaster  and  exposed  timbers.  There  are 
some  fine  bold  gables,  but  the  building  is  more  for 
comfort  than  for  show.  A  lake  or  pond  is  close 
at  hand,  issuing  from  the  woods,  and  the  beauti 
ful  Hudson  shores  extend  a  long  distance  on  the 
property,  while  opposite  is  the  busy  coal  mart  of 
Rondout  and  the  old  State  capital  of  Kingston, 
where  Governor  Clinton  and  his  Legislature 

o 

formed  this  State  and  defended  themselves  be 
tween  the  ramparts  of  the  Catskill  and  the  Hud 
son  highlands. 

The  vicinity  of  Mr.  Morton's  home  is  rich  in 
personal  and  historical  reminiscences.  The  Liv 
ingston  family,  with  which  Mrs.  Morton  is  related, 
live  in  the  next  county,  some  twelve  miles  distant, 
and  there,  at  Clermont,  Chancellor  Livingston 
saw  his  steamboat  come  up  the  river  nearly 
twenty  years  after  he  had  administered  the  oath 
of  the  Presidential  office  to  General  Washington 
in  New  York. 

By  Rhinebeck  lived  Edward  Livingston,  the 
Chief  Secretary  of  President  Jackson  ;  at  Hyde 
Park  Church,  hardly  eight  miles  distant,  lie  buried 
Governor  Morgan  Lewis,  who  beat  Aaron  Burr 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  353 

for  Governor  of  New  York,  and  Nathaniel  Pen- 
dleton,  who  was  the  second  of  Hamilton  when 
Burr  killed  him. 

You  can  see  from  Ellerslie  the  spires  of  Kings 
ton,  where  the  State  of  New  York  was  created, 
and  Poughkeepsie,  which  was  the  birthplace  of 
Mrs.  Morton,  where  the  Federal  Constitution  was 
accepted  by  the  State  of  New  York  at  the  entreaty 
of  Jay  and  Hamilton  and  with  the  youthful  Kent 
for  a  witness  of  the  proceedings. 

Thus  Mr.  Morton,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  has 
come  back  to  the  earliest  associations  of  the  Com 
monwealth  of  New  York,  where  his  character  has 
given  him  the  confidence  of  that  probably  greatest 
of  political  parties  in  the  history  of  this  land,  so 
that,  with  excellent  competitors  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  the  National  Republican  Convention, 
upon  the  first  ballot,  selected  him  to  accompany 
General  Harrison  and  in  a  remote  contingency  to 
be  the  second  hope  of  the  country. 

Looking  around  Ellerslie,  where  I  had  the 
privilege  of  spending  a  night  in  the  partly-fur 
nished  and  airy  rooms,  one  asks  himself  what 
were  the  steps  to  this  solid  and  reasonable  joy 
of  Mr.  Morton's  half  retirement  to  Sylvan  scenes. 

He  first  glances  at  the  master  of  the  premises, 
who  is  a  straight,  large  seeming  man,  with  a  very 
easy  and  benevolent  countenance,  like  one  whose 
physical  health  and  mental  equipoise  were  both 

nearly  perfect,  and  upon   whom   age,  if  it   can 
23 


354  LEVI  p-  MORTON. 

so  be  called,  has  left  the  fruitage  of  a  family  of 
young  children,  who  sit  around  his  table  as  if 
they  might  be  the  progeny  of  some  young  man 
who  had  been  hardly  fifteen  years  in  the  domestic 
state. 

You  may  have  heard,  perhaps,  that  the  host  is 
a  banker,  both  in  New  York  and  in  London  and 
abroad,  and  you  therefore  ask  if  he  expects  to 
spend  much  time  midway  between  New  York  and 
Albany,  and  hear  his  reply : 

"  Yes,  I  expect  to  spend  a  good  deal  of  my  time 
here.  We  had  a  cottage  for  the  summer  at  New 
port,  but  my  wife  found  the  sea  air  did  not  agree 
with  her;  she  wanted  to  come  to  the  country,  and 
so  did  I.  She  is  in  the  vicinity  of  her  birthplace 
and  I  know  no  better  place  to  spend  the  late 
summer  of  my  days.  When  I  purchased  this 
place  I  intended  to  make  it  the  home  of  my 
family." 

You  would  guess  that  Mr.  Morton  weighed 
more  than  165  pounds  and  that  he  was  more 
than  6  feet  high,  but  these  are  the  recorded 
figures. 

He  is  straight-limbed,  stands  erect,  yet  has 
flexible  and  quiet  movements,  and  the  whole  tone 
of  his  talk  and  character  are  toward  tranquillity, 
though,  now  and  then,  you  can  observe  an  athletic 
question  or  reply  from  his  lips,  indicative  of  plenty 
of  capacity  for  exertion. 

From    business    dealings   with   persons   of  all 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  355 

types  and  countries,  and  in  affairs  of  the  very 
largest  character  as  well  as  simple,  rustic  trading, 
his  face  has  become  somewhat  cosmopolitan 
though  the  New  England  lines  are  decided. 

It  is  the  general  cast  and  complexion  of  the 
countenance  which  is  generic,  and,  I  might  almost 
say,  international,  and  he  resembles  the  type  of 
men  of  large  affairs  in  all  countries. 

You  mentally  run  over  in  your  mind  both 
American  and  British  statesmen,  to  think  what 
one  of  them  he  resembles. 

He  is  not  a  loquacious  man,  and  yet  an  inter 
esting  talker,  and  one  of  the  pleasantest  expres 
sions  of  his  face  is  that  of  the  respectful,  intel 
ligent  listener. 

That  the  typz  is  strong  and  individual,  is  mani 
fest  from  his  firm,  square  chin  and  lips,  the  mouth 
being  both  decided  and  genial,  as  in  a  person 
who  never  fully  exercised  his  whole  strength. 

He  has  a  broad  and  high  forehead,  a  nose 
nearly  straight  but  with  a  slight  inclination  to  be 
Roman,  and  his  face  is  suggestive,  at  times,  of 
the  lawyer,  the  minister,  and  the  merchant. 

Bearing  •  himself  with  unconscious  ease,  his 
mind  directed  toward  the  happiness  of  other  per 
sons  than  himself — his  nature  outside  of  himself, 
so  to  speak — there  is  the  health  in  his  move 
ments  of  one  who  lets  his  mind  quit  its  cage. 

Other  men  are  much  wealthier  than  he  is  and 
he  has  had  his  hard  times,  as  well  as  his  good 


356  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

times,  but  the  effect  of  life  upon  the  individual 
man  has  been  singularly  civilizing,  mild  and 
kindly. 

This  is  why  he  has  given  away  a  good  deal  of 
his  substance  and  why  the  public  has  but  re 
cently  heard  of  much  of  this  almost  quaint  benev 
olence. 

He  derives  from  his  parents  the  elements  of 
piety  and  gratitude. 

He  has  been  a  great  many  years  coming  to 
moderate  affluence,  but  every  step  of  the  route 
seems  to  have  been  progressive,  so  that  he  has 
reached  maturity  like  a  tree,  in  the  temperate 
regions,  which  may  last  a  very  long  time  by  the 
slow  and  solid  conditions  of  its  growth. 

EARLY    STORY. 

Levi  Parsons  Morton  was  born  May  i6th, 
1824,  at  Shoreham,  Vermont. 

The  time  was  the  conclusion  of  Monroe's  ad 
ministration  and  the  impending  succession  of 
John  Ouincy  Adams.  The  place  was  nearly  op 
posite  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  within  sight  of  the 
commonwealth  of  New  York. 

At  Shoreham,  the  senior  Morton  was  a  Con 
gregational  minister  and  the  earlier  portion  of 
Mr.  Morton's  life  was  spent  in  the  family  of  a 
minister  kept  more  or  less  moving  from  fold  to 
fold. 

The  sons  of  clergymen  have  played  no  unim- 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  357 

portant  part  in  our  public  history,  and  the  public 
would  be  surprised  to  see  a  full  list  of  the  sons 
of  ministers  who  have  been  in  great  station. 

The  wife  of  Washington  was  of  a  ministerial 
family,  and  the  wife  of  President  John  Adams 
was  a  New  England  clergyman's  daughter — gen 
erally  reckoned  the  ablest  woman  ever  in  the 
executive  family ;  at  least  her  son,  also,  became 
President  of  his  country. 

Aaron  Burr  was  the  son  and  the  grandson  of 
ministers,  and  if  he  has  not  been  the  purest,  he 
has  probably  been  the  most  romantic  of  Amer 
ican  politicians.  The  State  of  New  York  has 
been  moulded  more  in  accordance  with  his  views 
of  popular  politics  than  those  of  any  other  man, 
and  he  was  a  long  time  ahead  of  all  other  New 
York  leaders  in  foreseeing  the  power  of  the 
populace  and  of  the  large  cities. 

The  influences  around  President  Buchanan  were 
clerical  and  his  brother  became  a  minister. 

Both  Arthur  and  Cleveland  were -the  sons  of 
clergymen,  and  Garfield  was,  himself,  a  preacher. 

The  New  England  Congregational  pastor  has 
always  been  very  much  of  a  public  man,  in  that 
the  Puritan  settlement  was  rather  in  the  manner 
of  congregations,  and  the  pastor  was,  by  virtue 
of  his  office,  in  the  earlier  days,  a  magistrate ;  as 
in  the  English  church  of  to-day. 

The  Congregational  worship  of  New  England 
was  almost  identical  with  that  sect  to  which 


35 8  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

Cromwell  belonged,  where  every  church  was  a 
republic  of  the  elect  of  God. 

Hence  the  sons  of  New  England  pastors  abound 
in  our  commercial  marts.  Morse  was  one  of 
these — the  inventor  of  the  telegraph ;  the  Field 
family,  conspicuous  at  the  bar  and  on  the  Ex 
change,  are  the  sons  of  a  New  England  preacher. 
The  Potters  and  the  Browns  draw  their  strain 
from  Dr.  Nott.  The  first  name  to  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence — written  large,  "  so  that 
John  Bull  could  read  it" — was  that  of  the  son 
and  the  grandson  of  New  England  clergymen, 
who  preached  about  the  town  called  Lexington. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Morton  was  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Oliver  Morton,  and  his  mother  was  Lucretia 
Parsons,  who  was  both  the  daughter  and  the 
granddaughter  of  clergymen. 

Mr.  Morton's  family  settled  in  Middleborough, 
Mass.,  as  early  as  1623,  at  the  very  foundation  of 
the  Bay  Colony. 

A  clear  strain  of  public  spirit  and  moral  duty 
has  come  down  this  family  line  during  many 
American  generations,  and  yet  such  are  the 
cramped  worldly  circumstances  of  the  Protestant 
ministry  that  Mr.  Morton's  father  probably  never 
drew  a  larger  salary  in  his  life  than  $600  per 
annum. 

He  greatly  desired  to  educate  all  his  children, 
but  his  means  were  not  sufficient  to  put  Mr. 
Morton  through  college,  though  he  succeeded  in 


LEVI   P.    MORTON.  359 

giving  that  opportunity  to  his  elder  son,  Daniel 
Oliver  Morton,  who  graduated  at  Middlebury 
College,  Vermont,  and,  going  West,  became  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  of  Cleve 
land,  and  was  United  States  District  Attorney 
for  Ohio  under  President  Franklin  Pierce. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  these  two  only  broth 
ers  were  not  of  the  same  political  view. 

There  was  a  difference  of  nine  years  between 
them. 

When  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  however, 
was  forced  by  Buchanan's  administration  upon 
the  people  of  Kansas,  Mr.  Morton's  brother  in 
dignantly  repudiated  the  performance  and  turned 
his  sympathies  toward  securing  a  free  empire  for 
free  men. 

Posterity  of  this  brother — who  died  in  1859 — 
is  notably  married,  and  it  is  significant  that  the 
Morton  connection,  in  general,  is  given  to  honor 
able  rather  than  affluent  marriages. 

Mr.  Morton  had  four  sisters,  the  first  of  whom, 
Lucretia,  married  the  Rev.  Mr.  Safford,  who  es 
tablished  a  seminary  at  Evansville,  Indiana,  and 
was  a  Presbyterian  pastor  in  Kentucky ;  this 
sister  died  last  year  in  Philadelphia. 

The  next  sister,  Electa  Morton,  married  Mr. 
Joseph  Minot,  of  Brockport,  N.  Y. 

The  third  sister,  Mary,  married  William  F. 
Grinnell,  at  present  United  States  consul  at  Brad 
ford,  England. 


360  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

The  fourth  sister,  Martha,  married  Rev.  Alenson 
Hartpence,  who  was  settled  for  some  time  in  Ten 
nessee,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Philadelphia; 
their  daughter  is  the  widow  of  Mr.  Mahlon  Sands, 
who  was  recently  killed  while  riding  in  Hyde  Park, 
London. 

MR.    MORTON'S   PROGRESS. 

When  Mr.  Morton  was  about  eight  years  of 
age  his  parents  removed  to  Springfield,  Vermont, 
which  is  near  the  Connecticut  river,  and  there  the 
family  remained  four  or  five  years,  within  sight  of 
the  clear,  green  waters  of  the  Connecticut  and  its 
dewy  valley,  and  of  the  outposts  of  the  Green 
Mountains. 

The  next  removal  was  made  to  Winchendon, 
Mass.,  which  is  on  the  borders  of  New  Hamp 
shire.  The  younger  son,  being  now  an  active, 
sprightly  boy,  soon  left  his  home  and  entered  a 
country  store  at  Enfield,  Mass.,  which  is  at  no 
great  distance  from  Northampton  and  within 
sight  of  Mount  Holyoke. 

He  there  remained  two  years,  with  Mr.  Ezra 
Carey,  and  in  the  course  of  time  his  father  was 
stationed  at  Bristol,  N.  H. 

Levi  Morton  then  taught  a  district  school,  in 
one  of  the  neighboring  towns,  and  finally  entered 
a  general  store  at  Concord,  N.  H.,  in  1841,  when 
he  wa*s  aged  seventeen. 

His  father  had  partially  prepared  him  to  enter 
Middlebury  College,  but  did  not  feel  able  to  sus- 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  36 1 

tain  him  for  the  term  of  his  education,  and  the 
son  cheerfully  consented  to  get  at  trade. 

The  aptitude  of  young  Morton  at  Concord 
caused  his  employer,  Mr.  W.  W.  Esterbrook,  to 
establish  him  in  a  branch  store  at  the  town  of 
Hanover,  where  Dartmouth  College  is  located. 

This  is  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  some  fifty  miles  from  Concord ; 
the  old  college  established  in  17  70  was  then  at 
the  height  of  its  prosperity,  and  had  probably 
300  students. 

With  these,  and  with  the  people  generally,  Mr. 
Morton  became  a  favorite,  and  when  he  was  only 
nineteen  or  twenty  years  of  age  his  employer 
gave  him  an  interest  in  the  store,  so  well  satisfied 
was  he  with  the  progress  of  his  assistant. 

This  interest  continued  for  six  ye^rs,  or  until 
Mr.  Morton  was  about  twenty-four  years  of  age. 

He  often  describes  his  residence  at  old  Dart 
mouth  as  the  most  agreeable  portion  of  his  life, 
because,  as  he  says,  he  was  then  in  abundant 
youth,  satisfied  with  his  progress  and  independ 
ence,  and  looking  forward  to  larger  areas  for 
business. 

As  he  did  not  marry  till  he  became  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  Mr.  Morton  passed  a  considerable 
portion  of  his  life  upon  the  resources  of  a  single 
man,  looking  after  himself,  and  seeing  the  fruits 
in  his  own  ingenuity;  and  about  1849  he  concluded 
to  go  to  Boston,  the  business  Mecca  for  every 
Yankee  boy  in  those  days. 


362  LLVI    P.    MORTON. 

It  was  when  Daniel  Webster  was  still  alive, 
though  rather  in  his  decay.  Mr.  Morton  saw 
him  more  than  once  in  Boston,  and  was  then 
acquiring  the  knowledge  of  business  which  leads 
up  to  finance  in  the  extensive  dry-goods  house  of 
James  M.  Beebe  &  Co. 

Appreciation  soon  followed  his  attention  to 
business  and  his  popularity  with  customers,  and 
in  1851  he  was  made  a  partner,  and  the  firm  re 
solved  to  open  an  establishment  in  the  city  of 
New  York. 

The  firm  was  known  as  J.  M.  Beebe,  Morgan 
&  Co. 

Mr.  Morgan  became  the  successor  of  George 
Peabody  &  Co.  in  London;  he  was  the  well-known 
Junius  S.  Morgan,  whose  son,  Pierpont  Morgan, 
is  the  driving  member  in  the  famous  house  of 
Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co. 

IN  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  Morton  came  from  Boston  after  a  residence 
there  of  about  five  years,  during0  which  period  he 
visited  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  the  great  city 
of  New  York. 

His  temperament  is  not  adventurous;  he 
finds  compensation  in  every  society,  and  he  was 
no  better  pleased  with  Paris  than  with  New  York 
or  Boston ;  and  now  recalls  his  occupation  in 
country  towns  as  eminently  natural,  social  and 
enjoyable. 


LEVI   P.    MORTON.  363 

The  firm  of  Beebe,  Morgan  &  Co.  dissolved 
about  1854,  and  its  Mr.  Morgan  went  to  London 
to  engage  in  banking.  The  house  had  been  in 
the  importing  and  jobbing  dry-goods  business, 
which  took  the  experience  of  the  heads  of  the 
firm  into  questions  of  exchange  and  commission. 

In  January,  1855,  Mr.  Morton,  who  had  been  a 
junior  in  the  establishment,  organized  the  house 
of  Morton  &  Grinnell,  which  was  a  dry-goods 
commission  house,  operating  chiefly  in  the  fabrics 
of  New  England  and  for  the  prominent  New 
England  mills,  mainly  in  cotton  goods. 

The  early  bias  Mr.  Morton  had  received  in 
favor  of  the  Whig  doctrines  of  American  manu 
factures  and  American  mechanisms  made  this 
branch  of  the  trade  congenial  to  him.  His  partner 
was  the  son  of  Hon.  George  Grinnell,  a  member 
of  Congress  from  Massachusetts.  '  They  con 
tinued  in  business  until  the  commencement  of 
the  Civil  War,  when  the  repudiation  of  Southern 
paper  and  the  bulldozing  of  the  day  caused  so 
much  distress  in  the  commercial  world. 

AS   A   BANKER. 

Mr.  Morton  had  meantime  entered  into  the 
married  state  with  Miss  Lucy  Kimball,  the 
daughter  of  Elijah.  H.  Kimball,  of  Flatlands, 
Long  Island. 

o 

He  married  in  the  same  year  the  Republican 
party  ran  its  first  candidate  for  President,  General 
Fremont,  for  whom  he  voted. 


364  LEVI  P.  MORTON. 

Mr.  Morton's  first  vote  in  a  national  election 
was  cast  for  Taylor  and  Fillmore,  and  in  1852  he 
voted  for  Scott  and  Graham. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  Republicans  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  one  of  the  earliest  con 
tributors  to  the  Republican  party's  campaigns. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1861,  the  mer 
cantile  firm  of  L.  P.  Morton  &  Co.  was  estab 
lished,  consisting  of  Walter  H.  Burns,  now  with 
J.  S.  Morgan  &  Co.,  London ;  H.  C.  Oakley,  son 
of  Chief-Justice-  Oakley,  of  New  York ;  and 
Charles  W.  McCune,  afterward  of  the  Buffalo 
Courier,  the  person  who  is  said  to  have  made 
Grover  Cleveland,  by  bringing  his  name  forward 
in  the  columns  of  the  Buffalo  Courier  and  harping 
upon  the  subject  until  the  press,  throughout  New 
York  State,  became  familiar  with  the  fact  that 
Western  New  York  would  have  a  candidate  of 
that  name. 

This  firm  of  L.  P.  Morton  &  Co.  went  on  until 
1863,  when  Mr.  McCune  withdrew  and  the  other 
partners  established  the  banking  house  of  L.  P. 
Morton  &  Co.,  at  35  Wall  street. 

The  scenes  of  Mr.  Morton's  dry-goods  trans 
actions  had  been  Park  Place  and  Duane  street. 

He  had  thus  been  in  trade  from  the  counter  of 
a  country  store  up  to  the  senior  of  large  wholesale 
establishments,  occupying  a  period  of  twenty-one 
years  ;  abundant  time  to  know  American  life  and 
the  American  markets,  through  all  their  gradations. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  365 

It  was  in  classic  mercantile  times  the  ambition 
of  successful  merchants,  engaged  in  the  business 
of  exchange  and  commission,  to  become  bankers; 
and  in  this  way  Bates,  Peabody,  the  Browns  and 
Binghams,  had  developed  from  the  store  counter 
to  the  ship,  and  from  the  ship  into  foreign  ex 
change. 

In  a  little  while  a  foreign  branch  of  the  house 
of  Morton  was  established  in  London,  under  the 
name  of  L.  P.  Morton,  Burns  &  Co.,  with  George 
Milne,  the  resident  London  partner— a  Scotchman 
who  had  resided  in  this  country. 

In  1869  the  firm  was  dissolved  and  reorganized, 
Mr.  George  Bliss  entering  the  New  York  firm, 
and  Sir  John  Rose,  then  finance  minister  of  Can 
ada,  going  over  to  London  to  join  the  English 
firm  ;  Burns  and  Oakley  retired. 

The  title  of  the  firms  at  the  reorganization  be 
came  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.  in  New  York,  and 
Morton,  Rose  &  Co.  in  London.  Mr.  George 
Bliss  had  been  of  the  firm  of  Chittenden  &  Bliss 
and  of  Phelps  &  Bliss,  in  the  dry-goods  trade. 

BANKER   AND    MAN. 

The  influence  of  Mr.  Morton — exerted  more  or 
less  all  his  life  and  generally  through  the  agency 
of  his  associates — was  soon  made  manifest  by  the 
celebrated  Alabama  Joint  Commission,  taking  its 
start  from  within  the  house  of  Morton,  Rose  &  Co. 

Sir  John  Rose,  who  received  his  baronetcy  for 


366  LEVI   P.    MORTON. 

his  public  services  on  this  occasion,  saw  an  oppor 
tunity  for  Great  Britain  and  America  to  close 
their  quarrels1  by  an  official  understanding  of 
what  grievances  existed,  and,  if  necessary,  a  frank 
settlement  .of  the  same.  He  was  a  very  hand 
some  man  with  manners  suitable  to  all  classifica 
tions  of  men,  and  he  arranged  the  preliminaries 
by  which  the  British  and  American  governments 
concluded  to  act  together  and  upon  American  soil. 

The  consequence  was  that  upon  the  I3th  of 
February,  1873,  the  British  government  paid  over 
to  the  American  government,  and  through  the 
houses  of  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.  and  Jay  Cooke  & 
Co.,  the  sum  of  $i  5,500,000,  as  a  settlement  of  the 
errors  of  the  past  and  the  clearance  for  that  emi 
nence  of  trade  which  has  ever  since  marked  both 
nations,  and  especially  the  United  States. 

During  the  following  time  nearly  the  whole 
public  debt  of  our  country  has  been  refunded  at 
a  lower  rate  of  interest,  and  the  negotiation  of 
the  bonds  at  home  and  abroad  has  been,  in  con 
siderable  part,  conducted  by  Mr.  Morton  and  his 
associates. 

The  settlement  of  the'  Alabama  matters  was 
highly  necessary  for  that  confidence  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  all  trading  enterprise. 

As  long  as  the  Americans  nourished  a  grudge 
and  failed  to  express  the  quantity  of  it,  in  figures, 
there  was  a  drawing  back  both  from  North 
Atlantic  business  enterprises  and  investments. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  367 

Since  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims  the 
vast  marine  of  England  has  been  rebuilt,  whilst 
the  interior  of  the  United  States  has  been  ribbed 
with  railroads,  giving  the  whole  empire  continuity 
and  intercourse,  till  ours  is  no  longer  a  mere  ter 
ritory  which  extends  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  but  it  is 
a  social  republic,  with  a  pulse  of  steam. 

The  enormous  amounts  of  foreign  money  in 
vested  in  our  general  securities  and  corporations, 
have  ended  in  the  accumulation  of  large  and 
numerous  fortunes  in  this  country,  so  that  at  the 
present  time  our  men  and  women  of  independ 
ence  are  employing  the  best  mechanical  art  and 
talent  in  the  country  to  build  homes  which  will 
probably  be  found  standing  for  hundreds  of  years 
to  come,  as  indications  of  the  golden  time  follow 
ing  the  establishment  of  free  soil,  free  labor, 
and  free  intercourse,  under  the  Republican  aegis 
of  home  institutions. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  house  of  Morton, 
Rose  &  Co.  was  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  United 
States  government  in  London;  in  1885  the 
account  was  transferred  to  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co. 

REFLECTIONS. 

In  the  higher  circles  of  bankers,  manners  and 
courtesy  have  ever  been  considered  requisite; 
the  banker  deals  across  the  boundaries  of  different 
lands  and  is  to  some  extent  the  host  of  him  who 
comes  with  money  to  deposit,  or  facilities  to  be 


368  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

obtained.  The  bankers  of  the  world  have  almost 
invariably  been  originally  its  leading  merchants. 

The  house  of  Brown  Brothers  originated  with 
a  plain  linendraper,  who  came  from  Ireland  to 
Baltimore  with  his  sons,  and,  sending  them  back 
to  the  old  world,  as  arms  of  his  traffic,  they  found 
it  convenient  to  do  their  own  exchanging. 

Stephen  Girard  was  a  shipping  merchant  before 
he  became  a  banker,  and  came  up  from  the  place 
of  cabin  boy. 

Under  high  conditions  of  public  prosperity  the 
banker  frequently  takes  the  lead  in  philanthropy, 
and,  therefore,  the  substantiality  of  the  banking 
firms  of  a  country  is  a  very  important  element  in 
credit  and  acquaintance. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  banker  to  find  the 
localities  of  money,  and  to  be  able  to  secure  it 
for  the  benefit  of  his  enterprising  fellow-citizens, 
who  are  embarking  in  measures  beyond  their  pri 
vate  means,  or  even  the  means  of  the  community 
or  commonwealth  where  they  reside. 

The  accidents  and  casualties  of  human  society 
frequently  call  for  vast  sums  of  money  under  the 
most  doubtful  circumstances  of  its  repayment. 

The  banker  is  therefore  the  diplomatist,  within 
the  arena  of  monetary  life. 

His  address,  his  vitality,  his  assurance,  consti 
tute  much  of  the  success  of  the  entire  society, 
when  this  is  suddenly  overwhelmed,  and  can  only 
be  placed  upon  its  feet  by  financial  assistance. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  369 

In  like  manner  corporations  come  to  the  end 
of  their  credit,  and  are  confronted  with  necessi 
ties  and  competitions  which  require  the  borrowing 
hand.  • 

The  natural  endowments  of  the  banker — his 
prudence  as  well  as  his  confidence,  his  cordial 
sympathy  as  well  as  his  discretion — are  often 
requisite.  Indeed,  the  public  minister  is  little 
other  than  the  national  fiscal  agent. 

When  the  government  of  Charles  X.  was  over- 

o 

turned,  it  is  related  that  Thiers,  the  young  assistant 
minister  of  finance,  was  to  instance  his  address 
by  obtaining  a  loan  for  the  ofovernment  of  Louis 

J  o  o 

Phillippe,  from  the  Rothschilds.  The  Revolution 
had  caused  the  general  flight  of  money,  and  the 
understanding  was  that  specie  would  have  to  be 
drawn  upon  from  the  Jewish  merchants  in  Asia 
and  remote  countries. 

Thiers  had  the  bonhommie  and  courteous  tact  to 
obtain  the  promise  of  the  Rothschilds  that  they 
would  sustain  the  new  government  with  funds. 
They  remarked,  however,  that  it  would  be  advis 
able  for  him  to  personally  come  again,  that  their 
Asiatic  brethren  in  the  faith  might  see  him  and 
be  able  to  carry  the  assurance  to  their  several 
lands  that  they  had  seen  the  government  "  him 
self,"  as  a  Frenchman  would  say. 

When  Thiers  reported  at  the  house  of  their 
friends,  there  were  seen  sitting  around  mysterious 

individuals — representatives  of  those  silent  and 
24 


370  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

devious  streams  of  gold  and  silver  which  are 
running  through  society  and  which  finally  empty, 
in  times  of  crisis,  into  estuaries  beyond  the  reach 
of  European  civilization. 

These  were  the  agents'  of  the  Jews  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  the  Jews  of  Egypt  and  of  India. 

They  saw  the  young  man  who  represented  the 
French  state,  and  measured  him  up  and  listened 
to  his  speech.  They  had  seen  "  himself"  and 
they  nodded  their  heads,  automatically,  and  the 
new  government  was  established  in  the  heart  of 
civilization  by  the  contributions  of  men  of  other 
races  and  other  faiths. 

So  it  is  with  the  American  banker. 

To  rise  to  his  highest  usefulness  he  must  have 
the  endowments  which  nature  gives  to  a  gentle 
man — perfect  serenity  within,  grace  and  polish 
without,  the  affability  which  outshines  manners, 
and  manners  which  are  transcendent,  because 
they  are  directed  from  the  inner  nature. 

Mr.  Morton,  without  having  derived  a  fortune 
from  anybody,  with  misfortunes  as  well  as  suc 
cesses  in  his  life,  had  always  kept  to  his  credit  an 
unblemished  character,  a  decent  tongue  and  a 
charitable  heart. 

NATURE. 

He  entered  into  the  difficult  paths  of  finance 
with  the  tranquillity  and  sagacity  which  come  of 
the  union  of  a  fine  temperament  with  abundant 
experience. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  37 1 

He  knew  men  and  affairs,  kept  abreast  of  the 
day,  had  public  spirit,  understood  his  country 
men,  and  did  not  undervalue  foreign  influences. 

He  was  marked  for  an  international  man  by 
original  breeding,  pure  American  descent,  a  fine 
presence,  a  patient  nature,  and  that  public  quality 
which  is  only  to  be  found  in  the  largest  grade  of 
citizens. 

Thus,  when  he  was  made  minister  to  France, 
though  he  had  never  previously  been  in  diplo 
matic  life,  the  appointment  was  regarded  as  a 
tribute  to  a  man  who  would  never  disparage  his 
country,  nor  the  country  of  any  other  man. 

The  French  were  so  pleased  with  him  that  they 
changed  the  name  of  the  park  on  which  his  resi 
dence  was  located  to  the  "  Place  of  the  United 
States,"  and  when  Mr.  Morton  came  to  talk  pork 
to  the  French  government,  after  they  had  shut  the 
American  swine  from  their  markets  for  years, 
the  man  rather  than  the  minister  easily  prevailed 
and  the  embargo  was  taken  off,  because  every 
body  liked  Mr.  Morton. 

Thus,  by  an  odd  contrast  of  things,  one  of  the 
politest  men  of  our  country  appeared  as  the  advo 
cate  of  the  universal  hog. 

The  Irishman  who  remarked  upon  his  pig,  when 
it  was  occupying  too  much  of  the  house,  that  he 
"  would  not  be  afther  turning  out  the  gintlemin 
who  paid  the  rint,"  was  a  faint  prefiguring  of  the 
American  nation  standing  behind  its  pig.  Upon 


372  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

this  very  question,  if  I  correctly  remember,  Mr. 
Sargent  had  his  quarrel  with  the  German  govern 
ment,  which  caused  his  resignation. 

A  BIOGRAPHICAL  RAMBLE. 

Mr.  Morton's  connection  with  the  resumption 
of  specie  payments  is  his  strong  point  among 
financiers. 

It  is  said  that  largely  through  his  advice  and 
aid  in  1879  resumption  was  made  feasible. 

Mr.  Morton's  ability  in  Congress  was  principally 
advisory  and  shown  in  committee  rooms.  The 
general  public  is  not  yet  aware  of  how  ordinary 
legislation  is  brought  into  form. 

The  House,  like  the  Senate,  is  minutely  subdi 
vided  and  the  committees  almost  answer  to  the 
individuals  in  families  ;  a  man  of  good  utility  may 
be  on  three  or  four  committees,  yet  will  probably 
make  his  chief  home  in  only  one  of  them. 

When  the  committee  comes  together  the  con 
versational  man,  with  accurate  knowledge  on  busi 
ness  things,  or  law,  obtains  his  impression.  The 
other  members  of  the  committee,  who  are  acci 
dentally  or  superficially  informed,  learn  to  turn  to 
that  member  who  can  answer  all  the  questions 
addressed  to  him  and  who  can  bring,  from  the 
business  centres,  the  knowledge  of  experience. 

Mr.  Morton  is  a  close  listener,  a  silent  critic,  a 
genial  answerer ;  neither  intrusive  nor  obtrusive, 
he  imparts,  when  requested,  with  a  plainness,  a 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  373 

serenity  and  yet  a  courtesy  which  make  his  in 
formation  no  obligation. 

Under  better  circumstances  we  would  have  our 
Congress  fuller  of  men  of  this  ability,  which  is 
acquired  in  the  great  book  of  experience,  from 
humility  and  obedience,  up  to  the  degree  of  inde 
pendence  and  of  mastership. 

But,  after  all,  the  sufficient  men  for  real  things 
are  few  in  all  legislatures,  of  whatever  country. 

The  banker,  the  important  merchant,  require  to 
have  the  public  nature,  to  appreciate  an  invitation 
to  come  to  Congress. 

There  are,  of  course,  plenty  who  would  like  to 
be  in  the  republican  parliament,  as  a  social  con 
sideration;  but  he  who. lays  his  profitable  business 
down  to  go  to  Washington  and  work,  either  has 
the  interest  of  the  country  at  heart  or  discriminates 
between  fortune  and  reputation. 

There  was  formerly  a  quality  known  as  Honor, 
of  which  name  very  much  was  made,  and  people 
fought  duels  about  it.  But  the  age  in  which  we 
live  furnishes  the  best  examples  of  honor,  and 
among  these  merchants  and  prosperous  persons 
who  esteem  it  a  greater  matter  to  be  called  into 
the  service  of  the  nation  than  to  pursue  affluence. 

All  this  American  wealth  might  disappear  in  a 
single  year  of  disorder  and  anarchy,  and  the  mer 
cantile  morals  of  the  land  cannot  be  sound  when 
the  supervising  State  is  crippled,  like  a  bankrupt, 
or  is  perverse,  like  Mr.  Micawber, — who  would 


374  LEVI    p-    MORTON. 

issue  his  note  and  thank  God  that  his  debt  was 
paid. 

When  Mr.  Morton  went  to  Congress  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury  was  desirous  to  cut  the 
bridges  behind  him  which  connected  the  times  with 
repudiated  promises  to  pay. 

Mr.  Sherman  is  probably  the  most  extensively 
informed  public  man  in  the  land,  having  entered 
public  life  near  the  time  the  Republican  Party  was 
founded;  in  the  intervening  years  Mr.  Morton  had 
been  in  real  business. 

The  Secretary,  therefore,  found  a  faithful,  cheer 
ful,  experienced  banker  Congressman,  whose  hand 
had  been  upon  the  pulses  of  all  the  money  markets 
everywhere. 

The  attempt  at  specie  payments  was  made  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  The  accomplishment  was  so 
exasperating  to  the  crows  of  fiscal  and  economical 
literature,  the  smatterers  around  realities,  the  mag 
pies  of  political  economy,  that  hardly  a  word  has 
been  heard  from  them  since. 

The  nation  redeemed  its  promises  to  pay;  the 
derided  greenback  went  to  the  ball  with  the  yellow 
boy;  we  found  that  ten  dollar  gold  pieces  were 
more  talked  about  than  desired. 

From  that  day  to  this  the  land  has  had  the  in 
estimable  benefit  of  uniform  money, — gold,  silver 
and  the  printed  currency  holding  together,  like 
adventitious  companions,  who  have  met  and  sunk 
their  respective  ranks  and  are,  with  somewhit 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  375 

separate  consciousnesses,  getting  along  reason 
ably  well. 

AS  CONSERVATOR. 

Mr.  Morton,  however,  exercised  a  conservative 
influence  upon  the  subject  of  unlimited  silver  coin 
age  and  unlimited  issue  of  silver  certificates 

o 

against  the  deposit  of  silver  bullion. 

The  United  States  is  not  strong  enough  to  over 
ride  all  the  ecclesiastical  and  material  traditions 
of  the  world.  The  demonetization  of  silver  by 
some  of  the  States  of  Europe,  which  had  superior 
military  power  and  advantage,  could  not  be  alto 
gether  forgotten  in  the  United  States,  where  our 
production  of  silver,  under  the  enterprising  genius 
of  our  mechanical  miners,  has  been  very  large  for 
years.  What  was  required  was  to  keep  silver  in 
the  use  and  the  traditions  of  the  world  but  not  to 
glut  the  market. 

Mr.  Morton  exercised  in  Congress  that  influ 
ence  which  has  retained  silver  and  silver  certifi 
cates  in  public  use,  without  exciting  a  sensation 
among  the  stiff  gold  men.  The  country  has  ab 
sorbed  a  fair  share  of  public  certificates,  repre 
senting  silver  deposits,  while  the  amount  of  actual 
silver  pushed  at  an  individual  or  a  trader  is 
seldom  so  excessive  as  to  be  a  provocation. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Amidst  these  and  other  contributions  to  public 
experiment  and  science,  Mr.  Morton  never 


376  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

claimed  anything ;  the  journals  and  interviews 
may  be  ransacked  without  finding  any  claim  that 
he  made  to  knowledge  or  control.  He  was  con 
stituted  in  such  a  healthy  way  that  neither  praise 
nor  censure  affected  the  course  of  his  life.  Per 
haps  no  man  in  the  country  had  a  higher  joy  in 
being  one  of  the  servants  of  the  people,  and  none 
held  in  higher  estimation  the  American  public 
opinion,  but  a  well-ordered  life  had  made  two 
citadels  for  this  gentleman — his  home  was  a 
pleasant  microcosm  ;  his  office  was  a  fortress,  in 
time  of  peace. 

His  business  moved  onward  like  the  growth 
of  his  children.  The  consideration  of  his  con 
stituency,  and  of  many  public  men,  was  most 
grateful  to  this  family,  because  they  were  other 
wise  so  happy,  and  accessions  to  happiness  are 
like  the  widow's  cruse,, which  can  yield  more  and 
more,  and  still  seem  to  be  a  portion  of  the  same 
original  supply. 

SKETCHY. 

In  the  rapid  gathering  together  of  these  details 
no  attempt  has  been  made  at  due  order,  the  pur 
pose  being  to  convey  a  general  impression  of 
the  citizen  who  has  been  selected  as  the  Repub 
lican  Vice-Presidential  candidate. 

I  may  refer,  however,  to  a  little  piece  of  work 
which  interests  the  citizens  of  New  York. 

At  the  head  of  the  longest  stretch  of  Broadway, 
at  Tenth  street,  is  a  Gothic  spire  which  seems  to 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  '    377 

stand  across  the  street,  to  one  advancing  from 
the  south. 

This  is  Grace  Church,  which  was  erected  in 
1845,  °f  white  granite,  as  the  successor  of  a 
church  on  Broadway  below  Canal  street. 

Here  the  most  delightful  weddings  in  New  York 
have  long  been  celebrated,  and  yet  one  of  the  in 
teresting  additions  of  the  church  property  is  con 
nected  with  a  death. 

When  Mr.  Morton  lost  his  first  wife,  in  1871, 
his  mind  ran  to  the  interest  she  took  in  church 
charity — looking  out  for  orphans,  growing  girls 
and  poor  creatures  and  their  families.  There  is 
nothing  more  tender  in  American  sentiment  than 
the  remembrance  of  the  sons  of  poor  ministers, 
of  the  manly  poverty  of  their  parents — holding 
their  heads  aloft  as  magistrates  and  intercessors, 
with  hardly  the  means  to  send  their  sons  to  school, 
and  often  compelled,  against  the  vein,  to  commit 
their  boys  to  country  stores  and,  in  some  cases, 
to  make  them  apprentices. 

His  wife  having  come  from  the  vicinity  of  New 
York,  and  being  identified  with  the  city,  Mr. 
Morton  concluded  to  build  an  addition,  in  the 
style  of  the  church,  through  the  narrow  tract 
which  separates  Broadway  from  Fourth  avenue. 

On  that  side  went  up  the  Orphans'  House, 
which  contains  school-rooms,  refectories  and  what 
ever  is  required  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  the 
church,  and  to  give  Grace  Church  something  of 


378  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

the  completeness  of  old  Trinity,  with  its  parish 
schools  and  general  utilities.  The  Church  Jour 
nal  remarked  of  Mrs.  Morton  at  the  time  of  her 
death : 

"  Naturally  endowed  with  a  rare  energy  of 
character,  possessing  an  executive  ability  vouch 
safed  to  few  women,  with  a  cultivated  intellect, 
warm  sympathies,  most  engaging  manners,  and 
many  charms  of  person  and  temperament,  Mrs. 
Morton  filled  no  insignificant  sphere  with  a  grow 
ing  sense  of  her  responsibility  and  influence. 
She  offered  herself  freely  for  service  among  the 
poor,  and  her  ready  intelligence  was  ever  devising 
new  methods  of  benefiting  them.  St.  Barnabas 
House,  the  Woman's  Hospital,  ignorant  German 
children,  the  Industrial  School  of  Grace  Parish 
were  only  some  of  the  many  channels  through 
which  secretly  and  almost  by  stealth,  as  it  were, 
her  generous  bounty  flowed.  Now,  at  last,  her 
deeds  are  known  and  her  works  do  follow  her." 

Mr.  Morton  first  purchased  two  valuable  lots' to 
erect  the  Orphan  House,  which  is  called  Grace 
Church  Memorial,  but  these  appreciated  so  soon 
in  value  that  they  assisted  to  build  the  chaste 
and  graceful  appendages  to  the  church  property, 
and  about  $73,000  is  represented  in  this  ornament 
to  our  common  city. 

SO1TO   VOCE. 

In  conversation  with  Mr.  Morton  I  found  rathei 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  379 

more  than  a  diffidence — an  apparent  indifference 
— to  revive  these  matters  of  public  bequest. 

It  is  the  misfortune  of  men  of  willing  disposi 
tion  to  be  pursued  if  they  announce  their  gifts. 
Mr.  Morton,  however,  has  not  waited  till  his 
death,  to  embellish  whatever  portion  of  the  land 
has  become  his  habitation. 

His  first  wife  died  at  Newport,  where  he  had 
an  excellent  home,  called  Fairlawn.  He  pre 
sented  to  the  city  of  Newport,  before  he  left  it, 
a  park  of  twelve  acres,  which  bears  his  name,  and 
is  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  who  may  desire,  as 
they  walk  among  the  villas  of  the  wealthy,  to  find 
a  place  to  sit  down  in  the  shade,  to  look  at  the 
ocean,  the  coasts  and  perhaps  at  the  sport  of  Polo, 
which,  by  the  way,  happens  to  be  enacted  right 
below  this  park. 

APPRECIATION. 

Though  Mr.  Morton  had  not  the  benefit  of  a 
college  education  he  has  not  been  overlooked  by 
the  best  institutions  of  learning. 

Both  Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  where  his 
brother  graduated,  and  old  Dartmouth  College, 
have  conferred  on  Mr.  Morton  the  degree  of 
LL.  D.,  and  there  is  hardly  a  case  of  a  financial 
manager  upon  whom  the  appellation  sits  more 
naturally  than  upon  one  who  has  always  esteemed 
education  and  has  looked  into  every  question  of 
letters,  art,  and  public  science  with  the  avidity  of 
a  student. 


58O  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

Most  of  the  artists  of  the  day  know  Mr.  Mor 
ton.  His  portrait  and  that4  of  his  wife  have  been 
painted  by  Bonnat. 

While  he  was  Minister  to  France  the  celebrated 
giant  statue  of  Freedom  was  undergoing  the 
throes  of  financial  birth,  and  Mr.  Morton  gave  to 
the  completion  of  the  work  the  interest  of  the 
American  envoy's  attention,  and  he  was  a  leading- 
contributor  to  the  raising  of  a  large  model  of  this 
statue  in  Paris,  so  that  the  sculptor  would  not  be 
without  honor  in  his  own  country. 

The  United  States  was  fortunately  represented 
in  Paris  during  the  reasoning  period  of  humility 
when  the  French,  partly  cured  of  their  military 
ambition,  were  giving  redoubled  attention  to  their 
art.  Feeling  almost  lonely  and  friendless  in 
Europe,  the  attention  of  the  American  minister 
and  his  accomplished  wife  was  very  consoling  to 
the  French.  Mrs.  Morton  was  careful  to  hold 
her  receptions  without  intermission,  and  her  ease, 
tact  and  commanding  appearance  made  the  em 
bassy  a  place  of  enjoyable  resort. 

WIFE. 

This  lady  was  the  daughter  of  William  I.  Street, 
of  Poughkeepsie,  and  the  niece  of  Alfred  B.  Street, 
the  Albany  poet. 

Mr.  Morton  had  no  children  by  his  first  mar 
riage;  his  family  consists  at  present  of  five  daugh 
ters,  all  of  them  beneath  the  age  which  secures 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  .        38 1 

the  title  of  "  young  lady."  It  is  a  household  of 
healthy,  merry  children,  who  are  never  found  pin 
ing  to  return  to  the  city,  and  who  love  the  woods 
and  continue  their  studies  in  the  upland  air  of 
that  noble  Duchess  County  region,  which  is  an 
extension  of  the  Berkshire  Hills  into  the  lap  of 
the  Catskills.  Mr.  Street's  description  of  "  The 
Settler"  is  suggestive  of  the  woodlands  at  El- 
lerslie :  • 

"  The  paths  which  wound  mid  gorgeous  trees, 

The  streams  whose  bright  lips  kissed  their  flowers, 
The  winds  that  swelled  their  harmonies, 

Through  those  sun-hiding  bowers, 
The  temple  vast — the  green  arcade, 
The  nestling  vale,  the  grassy  glade, 

Dark  cave  and  swampy  lair, 
.   These  scenes  and  sounds  majestic  made 
His  world,  his  pleasure  there." 

There  are  many  anecdotes  connected  with  Mr. 
Morton,  though  one  is  not  able  to  extract  much 
from  him  to  give  embellishment  to  his  story. 

He  reads  the  sketches  which  come  to  him  from 
the  newspapers,  generally  from  the  vicinities 
where  he  spent  his  youth,  and  they  make  him 
smile  and  perhaps  remark : 

"  Well,  I  believe  that  did  happen,  or  something 
very  much  like  it." 

His  earliest  reputation  was  that  of  remarkably 
fair  dealing  combined  with  uninvidious  enter 
prise. 

Those  who   entered  his  little  shop  in  Hanover, 


382  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

N.  H.,  found  nothing  to  remind  them  of  the 
grasping  trader.  His  original  employer  and 
subsequent  partner  at  Concord  dealt  in  dry-goods 
and  clothing,  and  Mr.  Morton  has  performed  the 
feat  of  having  a  whole  graduating  class  measured 
for  their  clothes  and  had  them  supplied  with 
dress  suits  from  his  shop. 

It  is  said  that  the  sign  of  L.  P.  Morton  is  still 
to  be  found  on  the  old  Tontine  building  at  Han 
over,  and  he  has  given  to  Dartmouth  College,  at 
Hanover,  land  on  which  to  erect  a  library  build 
ing. 

He  has  put  up  a  tablet  in  the  Congregational 
Church,  at  Bristol,  to  the  memory  of  his  father;  it 
is  in  Italian  marble,  with  sculptured  brackets  and 
a  Gothic  cross,  reading  as  follows : 

"  In  memory  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Oliver  Morton,  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Churches  in  Shoreham  and  Spring 
field,  Vermont,  and  Winchendon,  Mass.,  from  1812  to 
1841,  and  of  this  church  (Bristol}  from  June  8t/i,  1842,  to 
the  day  of  his  death,  March  22d,  1852. 

"  They  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as 
the  stars  for  ever  and  ever" 

REFLEX. 

After  the  general  business  collapse  at  the  out 
break  of  the  civil  war,  Mr.  Morton  was  regarded 
by  his  creditors  as  too  effective  a  personal  quan 
tity  to  be  allowed  to  lie  idle.  They  set  him  to 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  383 

work  again  and  in  the  course  of  time  found  that 
their  confidence  was  not  misplaced. 

He  is  a  very  considerate  man  of  the  services 
of  all  persons,  and  is  eminently  no  respecter  of 
persons,  though  standing  near  the  apex  of  Amer 
ican  social  refinement. 

The  newspaper  reporters  come  around  on 
errands  more  or  less  pertinent  or  otherwise,  and 
they  find  their  way  to  the  gentleman  they  are  in 
pursuit  of  without  much  difficulty,  and  meet  with 
a  courteous  reception. 

After  having  been  minister  to  France,  Mr. 
Morton  returned  to  the  United  States  if  possible 
a  more  native  character  than  ever.  His  manners 
and  methods  suit  all  people,  and  it  was  said  while 
he  was  holding  large  receptions  at  Paris,  that 
"  Republicans,  Monarchists,  Imperialists,  Catho 
lics,  Protestants,  Free  Thinkers,  Diplomats,  Au 
thors,  Journalists,  such  as  were  found  in  no  other 
salon  in  Paris,  were  to  be  met  there  with  an  im 
proved  largeness  of  mind  and  absence  of  clan- 
nishness ;  while  elsewhere  they  would  have 
formed  a  menagerie ;  but  in  these  American 
drawing-rooms  they  made  a  really  happy  family, 
their  antipathies  being  ignored  by  the  host  and 
hostess,  and  so  they  cease  to  be  antithetic  and 
fuse  as  well  as  oil  and  vinegar  in  a  salad." 

When  Mr.  Morton  was  defeated  for  the  Senate 
by  Mr.  Hiscock,  Galignani  observed  in  Paris  : 

"  The  news  has  been  received  by  the  American 


384  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

colony  in  Paris  with  deep  personal  regret.  By 
his  constant  courtesy  and  attention,  his  abound 
ing  and  generous  hospitality,  his  active  sympathy 
in  all  good  works,  his  personal  kindness  and 
genial  character,  and  his  devoted  interest  and  at 
tention  to  American  interests,  Mr,  Morton  won 
the  highest  respect  and  regard  of  his  countrymen 
in  Paris.  It  is  a  consolation  to  his  friends,  how 
ever,  that  he  has  not  been  defeated  by  tricky 
combinations  nor  by  an  unknown  mediocrity,  but 
by  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  nation." 

In  this  sentence  one  could  almost  read  the  na 
ture  of  Mr.  Morton  directing  the  pen  of  his  friend 
to  courtesy.  Had  such  magnanimity  been  gen 
eral  throughout  the  Republican  party  their  dis 
sensions  would  not  have  brought  their  tempo 
rary  retirement. 

Mr.  Morton's  residence  in  Washington  was  the 
suggestion  for  the  commencement  of  an  apart 
ment  house  in  the  most  central  portion  of  the 
city,  about  two  blocks  from  the  President's  man 
sion. 

He  purchased  the  residence  of  the  late  Con 
gressman  Hooper,  of  Massachusetts,  and  other 
houses  adjacent  from  the  late  Chief-Justice 
Cartter,  who  was  the  law  partner  of  Mr.  Mor 
ton's  brother  in  Ohio,  and  for  many  years  a  close 
friend  of  Mr.  Morton  himself. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  385 

KIND. 

When  our  public  men,  sucn  as  Grant,  Sherman 
and  Garfield,  were  in  financial  straits,  or  without 
homes  adequate  to  their  public  services  and  repu 
tation,  Mr.  Morton  was  always  a  reliable  giver, 
and  though  his  contributions  cannot  be  traced  to 
his  own  replying,  the  beneficiaries  know  the  value 
of  one  who  can,  without  extravagant  wealth  and 
much  beset  by  the  immodest,  find  means  of  put 
ting  aside  something  for  every  good  example. 

Among  Mr.  Morton's  public  employments  have 
been  the  honorary  commissionership  to  the  Paris 
Exhibition  in  1878,  and  that  of  Commissioner- 
General  to  the  Paris  Electrical  Exposition. 

His  residence  in  New  York  city  has  long  been 
at  No.  85  Fifth  Avenue.  One  sees  upon  enter 
ing  fine  portraits  of  Presidents  Grant  and  Gar- 
field.  Close  at  hand  are  portraits  of  history,  of 
Washington  and  Lafayette.  Gambetta,  who  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Morton,  is  also  repre 
sented.  The  picture  of  President  Arthur  hangs 
close  by  that  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  and  the 
photograph  of  Count  Rochambeau.  The  por 
trait  of  Mr.  Morton's  father,  in  oil,  is  near  the 
portrait  of  his  mother's  brother,  the  Rev.  Levi 
Parsons,  the  first  American  missionary  to  Pales 
tine,  and  from  this  gentleman  Mr.  Morton  is 
named.  An  interesting  thing  to  see  in  the  pres 
ent  relevancy  is  a  daguerreotype  of  the  old  country 

store    in    Concord,    N.    H.,    where    Mr.    Morton 

25 


386  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

began  to  sell  goods.  By  the  fireplace  at  Mr. 
Morton's  house  you  see  shells  thrown  into  Paris 
by  the  German  cannon,  and  they  are  connected 
by  brass  chains  which  make  them  a  fender. 

SOLID. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  candidate, 
though  given  to  placation  and  cordiality,  is  with 
out  decided  views  on  many  questions. 

When  the  oleomargarine  imposition  was  claim 
ing  that  no  law  nor  government  could  put  a  brand 
upon  it,  Mr.  Morton  wrote : 

"  I  am  so  heartily  in  accord  with  any  proposed 
legislation  that  will  protect  the  dairy  interest,  that 
I  should  deem  it  my  duty  to  earnestly  support 
the  passage  of  any  law  calculated  to  suppress 
fraud  in  the  imitation  of  products  that  go  into 
daily  consumption,  especially  those  from  the 
dairy,  in  which  industry  so  large  a  number  of  our 
people  are  engaged." 

By  the  way,  the  first  nail  used  in  the  construc 
tion  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  was  hammered  in  by 
Mr.  Morton,  who  accepted  this  statue  in  June, 
1884.  tie  went  in  person  to  the  unveiling  of  the 
statue  of  Lafayette  at  Le  Puy,  the  hero's  birth 
place. 

INTERNATIONAL. 

About  the  time  that  Gambetta,  from  his  personal 
regard  for  Mr.  Morton,  suspended  the  embargo 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  387 

on  American  pork,  the  minister  gave  a  dinner,  at 
which  were  present  all  the  members  of  the  French 
cabinet  and  the  chief  men  in  the  government,  in 
cluding  Gambetta  himself,  and  Rouvier,  after 
ward  Prime  Minister. 

The  extraordinary  compliment  was  paid  the 
host  by  the  French  cabinet — which  uniformly 
meets  in  the  evening — of  holding  its  session  in 
the  morning,  in  order  to  attend  the  dinner. 

Mr.  Morton  was  continually  extending  enter 
tainments  to  artists,  literary  men,  the  clergy,  etc., 
and  accepting  invitations  of  different  guilds.  He 
presented  American  officers  to  the  chiefs  of  the 
army.  When  he  arbitrated  between  Venezuela  and 
France,  French  journals  contained  the  following: 

"  President  Arthur  in  his  message  of  December 
7th  refers  to  the  Franco- Venezuelan  dispute,  the 
settlement  of  which  the  American  government 
has  endeavored  to  promote,  as  follows  :  '  In  other 
words,  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton  has  had  the  honor  of 
having  won  for  the  new  administration  its  first 
diplomatic  success,  for  which — as  there  were  no 
distinctly  American  interests  involved  in  the  ques 
tion — he  is  entitled  to  the  greatest  credit.' ' 

ABROAD. 

Mr.  Morton  was  one  of  the  subscribers  to  the 
American  Charitable  Fund  in  Paris,  and  his  name 
is  printed  at  the  head  of  the  list  to  the  Garfield 
Memorial,  on  which  the  name  of  the  Empress  of 
Germany  appears. 


388  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

He  gave  an  entertainment  on  the  Yorktown 
Centenary  to  thirty  guests,  among  whom  were 
Lafayettes,  Rochambeaus,  and  De  Grasses.  Gen 
eral  Boulanger  was  present  on  one  of  these  com 
memorative  occasions. 

The  London  World,  alluding  to  the  first  recep 
tion  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morton,  in  Paris,  remarked  : 

"  Mr.  Morton's  reception  was  such  as  no  Amer 
ican  envoy  in  London  has  ever  held.  Nearly  the 
entire  cabinet  was  there.  There  were  official 
representatives  of  the  President,  and  generals, 
editors,  and  authors  and  artists  by  the  dozen. 
Every  guest  was  delighted  at  the  kindly  courtesy 
of  Mr.  Morton  and  the  charming  grace  and  tact 
of  Mrs.  Morton." 

PRECURSIVE. 

While  in  France  Mr.  Morton,  in  company  with 
his  wife,  went  to  several  of  the  provincial  cities  on 
errands  of  congratulation  and  respect.  They 
visited  the  city  of  Rouen,  which  was  desiring 
extended  marine  facilities,  and  the  Municipality 
feted  them  for  several  days.  The  idea  was  to 
demonstrate  to  the  influential  American  Minister 
that  Rouen  would  make  a  better  seaport  than 
Havre.  Mr.  Morton,  in  his  speech  at  the  banquet 
given  to  him  in  their  quaint  several  centuries  old 
Hotel  de  Ville,  said:  "  I  hope  your  project  will  be 
carried  out,  and  that  Rouen  steamers  may  be  seen 
entering  the  harbors  of  the  New  World.  We  will 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  389 

loacl  your  ships  for  the  return  voyage  with  cotton 
for  your  looms,  and — if  you  will  allow  us — with 
American  meats,  at  low  prices,  for  your  workmen, 
and  fill  the  cabins  with  customers  for  your  beau 
tiful  fabrics  and  works  of  art  and  the  products  of 
your  soil." 

Among  Mr.  Morton's  labors  in  France  was  the 
attempt  to  have  the  attitude  of  the  French  gov 
ernment  changed  with  respect  to  American  cor 
porations.  Under  the  old  law  French  citizens  had 
the  power  to  sue  American  companies  in  the 
courts,  whereas  the  companies  were  refused  all 
legal  recognition  as  plaintiffs. 

Both  Mr.  Washburne  and  General  Noyes  failed 
to  induce  the  Conseil  d ' Etat  to  modify  its  hostility 
to  the  proposed  change,  in  which  resolve  it  was 
backed  up  by  the  Minister  of  Commerce. 

Finally  Mr.  Morton  succeeded  in  inducing  that 
Minister  to  withdraw  his  opposition,  and  a  decree 
making  a  new  order  of  things  was  published  on 
the  Qth  of  July,  1882. 

It  is  as  corporations  that  the  largest  enterprises 
in  our  country  seek  the  foreign  markets,  and  thus 
Mr.  Morton  was  at  the  same  time  endeavoring  to 
extend  our  agricultural  opportunities  with  France 
and  giving  a  larger  foothold  there  to  American 
merchants. 

Since  the  above  decree  the  American  life  insur 
ance  companies  have  built  noble  edifices  in  Paris 
and  other  European  cities,  and  are  doing  business 


390  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

tributary  to  this  country.  It  was,  indeed,  to  enable 
insurance  companies  to  act  abroad  that  the  decree 
was  obtained. 

A   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

In  Mr.  Morton's  entertainment  of  Americans 
abroad  no  distinction  based  upon  section  or  poli 
tics  was  ever  observed. 

Confederates,  like  General  Gordon,  of  Georgia, 
found  themselves  perfectly  at  home  with  their 
countryman. 

At  the  funeral  of  Gambetta  Mr.  Morton  and 
his  Secretary  of  Legation  walked  on  foot  over  the 
long  route  to  the  cemetery  of  Pere  la  Chaise,  and 
among  the  floral  offerings  few  were  more  beau 
tiful  than  those  sent  by  the  Minister  and  his  lady. 
They  represented  the  American  flag,  the  Union 
being  formed  of  violets,  with  the  Stars  in  tube 
roses,  while  the  Stripes  were  composed  of  red  and 
white  rosebuds. 

With  impartial  respect  for  men  who  had  devoted 
themselves,  mistakenly  or  otherwise,  to  the  public 
service,  Mr.  Morton  also  attended  the  funeral  of 
Louis  Blanc  in  the  early  part  of  1883.  Said  a 
writer : 

"  Mr.  Morton's  presence  was  much  remarked. 
He  was  the  only  member  of  the  diplomatic  corps 
who  was  at  the  funeral ;  the  others  could  have 
had  little  sympathy  with  Louis  Blanc,  either  per 
sonally  or  as  ambassadors,  but  Mr.  Morton  rightly 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  39 1 

felt  that  the  American  Republic  ought  to  be  repre 
sented  when  one  of  the  foremost  republicans  of 
Europe  was  laid  to  rest.  Our  Minister  was  at 
the  house  which  Louis  Blanc  occupied,  and  from 
which  the  cortege  started,  wrote  his  name  in  the 
list  of  mourners,  followed  in  his  carriage  to  the 
cemetery,  and  stood  by  the  grave." 

The  son  of  the  old  Congregational  country 
minister  had  a  catholicity  of  sympathy,  and  in  the 
failure  of  Blanc's  life  this  mark  of  respect  was  the 
more  considerate. 


HEART    AT   HOME. 

It  was  during  this  pressure  of  almost  uninter 
rupted  social  events  in  Paris  that  the  Grace  Me 
morial  House  was  opened  in  the  city  of  New 
York. 

There  the  little  children  of  working-women  are 
cared  for  during  the  hours  when  their  mothers 
are  employed  outside  of  their  own  homes.  They 
are  washed,  given  simple  instruction,  and  supplied 
with  wholesome  meals.  To  prevent  the  work 
from  having  any  pauperizing  influence,  the  sum 
of  five  cents  a  day  for  each  child  is  charged  to 
the  parents.  Children  are  brought  there  daily  at 
seven  in  the  morning  and  remain  till  seven  in  the 
evening  or  later,  and  no  inquiry  is  made  as  to  race 
or  religion. 

The  Evening  Post  of  December  2,  1872,  an- 


39 2  LEVI    p-    MORTON. 

nouncing  the  gift  of  the  Grace  Memorial  House, 
had  these  words  of  Mr.  Morton : 

"I  have  been  moved  to  this  act  chiefly  by  my 
desire  to  commemorate  my  late  wife,  Lucy  Kim- 
ball  Morton,  to  whom  the  scheme  of  Grace 
House,  when  it  was  first  submitted  to  her  by  her 
pastor,  at  once  became  dear,  and  who  before  her 
death  had  expressed  her  intention  of  co-operating 
personally  in  its  restoration.  I  am  also  anxious  to 
recognize  by  this  gift  the  obligations  of  men  of 
business  whom  God  has  blessed  in  their  business, 
to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  Him  by 
gifts  for  the  benefit  of  their  fellow-men." 

ARTIST    MINISTER. 

Taking  an  interest  in  international  art,  Mr. 
Morton  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  the 
close  of  1883  : 

"I  respectfully  submit  to  the  Department, 
whether  it  would  not  be  proper  to  suggest  a  lib 
eral  modification  of  the  clause  of  the  tariff  bearing 
upon  works  of  art. 

"  Such  modification  would  certainly  be  acknowl 
edged  by  the  French  government,  and  received 
by  the  large  and  influential  artistic  circles  here 
with  a  feeling  of  warm  satisfaction. 

"  It  would  also  make  the  relations  of  this  Lega 
tion  with  the  French  Department  of  Fine  Arts 
more  agreeable,  and  relieve  the  United  States 
Minister  from  certain  embarrassments  when  he 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  393 

has  to  seek,  in  behalf  of  the  American  students, 
for  the  free  tuition  of  the  French  Schools  of  Art." 

When  Mr.  Morton  went  to  the  unveiling  of  the 
Lafayette  Statue,  at  Puy,  he  presented  a  rare  por 
trait  of  General  Washington  to  the  town,  with 
this  inscription : 

"This  portrait  of  the  companion-in-arms  and 
friend  of  Lafayette  is  presented  to  the  Societe  de 
Gynmastique  du  Puy,  as  a  souvenir  of  the  wel 
come  which  I  received  on  the  occasion  of  the 
inauguration  of  the  Statue  of  Lafayette  on  the 
6th  of  September,  1883." 

When  Bartholdi  sailed  to  America  Mr.  Morton 
gave  him  a  banquet  and  the  toast,  "  May  the  great 
Statue  of  Liberty,  the  work  and  gift  of  France  to 
her  sister  republic,  the  completion  of  which  we 
celebrate  to-night,  stand  at  the  entrance  of  the 
main  harbor  of  the  New  World,  as  an  illuminating 
emblem  of  Liberty  and  friendship  between  the 
two  leading  Republics  of  the  globe,  which  God 
grant  may  last  for  all  time  to  come." 

DOMESTIC. 

The  Newport  house  of  the  Mortons  is  in  an 
enclosure  of  four  acres  bordered  by  trees,  but 
perfect  sunshine  is  in  the  middle,  where  there 
are  lawn  and  flower-beds ;  the  house  is  a  brick 
manor  house  with  steep  pitched  roofs,  of  colored 
slate. 

In  1870  Prince  Arthur  of  England  was  a  guest 


394  LEVI    p-    MORTON. 

of  Mr.  Morton,  and  General  Grant  and  family 
were  his  guests  at  Newport. 

The  following  summer  Mrs.  Lucy  Morton  died 
at  Newport,  having  reached  only  the  thirty-fifth 
year  of  her  age. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Morton's  brother  in 
Toledo,  the  Leader  of  Cleveland  remarked: 

"He  was  a  social,  genial  man — a  kind  and 
charitable  man,  ever  ready  to  help  the  distressed, 
the  poor,  the  lowly.  He  was  devotedly  attached 
to  his  family.  He  was.  beloved  all  along  the 
Maumee  river,  where  the  people  knew  him  long 
and  well." 

The  Cleveland  Plaindealer  also  said  : 

"As  a  public  man  Daniel  O.  Morton  was  able, 
energetic  and  fearlessly  honest.  He  was  among 
the  first  of  the  leading  Democrats  of  Ohio  to 
boldly  and  unqualifiedly  repudiate  the  Lecomp- 
ton  policy  of  President  Buchanan ;  and  those 
who  said  he  would  not  have  done  the  same  thing 
had  he  been  retained  in  office,  did  not  know  the 
man.  Very  far  from  it:  Daniel  O.  Morton  be 
lieved  the  right  was  always  expedient." 

The  natural  fibre  of  this  family  can  be  seen 
from  the  success  of  two  brothers  in  widely  differ 
ent  fields,  and  in  the  independence  and  self-help 
of  all  their  sisters. 

The  brothers  occupied  different  party  relations, 
but  the  gravitation  of  their  principles  was  towards 
the  same  justice,  freedom  and  patriotism. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  395 

RETROSPECT. 

The  term  of  Mr.  Morton's  family  in  America 
embraces  almost  all  the  drama  of  civilization ; 
when  his  forefathers  landed  here  Raleigh  and 
Shakespeare  were  but  recently  deceased,  and 
Galileo  had  twenty  years  of  his  life  to  run,  and 
Newton  was  not  born.  It  was  nearly  fifty  years 
after  this  that  Swift  took  birth,  who  was  said  to 
have  been  the  author  of  the  Irish  Nation. 

So  settled  was  New  England  in  the  ancient 
ways,  that  only  thirty-five  years  before  the  Vice- 
Presidential  candidate  was  born,  his  grandmother 
was  proclaimed  in  church  "no  legal  resident"  of 
the  town  of  Goshen,  because  the  thrifty  New 
Englanders  of  the  colonial  time  looked  out  only 
for  their  own  poor,  and  were  apprehensive  that 
a  new  wife  brought  into  the  town  might  some 
day  be  a  burden. 

Mr.  Morton's  grandfather,  Justin  Parsons,  was 
not  only  in  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
but  was  elected  Hog-reeve — a  quaint  reminder 
of  the  struggle  Mr.  Morton  had  with  President 
Grevy  to  have  the  Western  hog  naturalized  in 
France. 

This  old  gentleman,  Justin  Parsons,  only  began 
to  study  theology  at  about  fifty  years  of  age,  and 
for  twenty  years  after  that  regularly  preached  in 
the  heart  of  the  Green  Mountains,  with  -a  stalwart 
frame,  white  hair,  ruddy  cheeks,  beaming  and 
benevolent  eye  and  apostolic  simplicity.  When 


396  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

he  and  his  horse  came  in  sight,  the  saying  was, 
"Here  comes  Father  Parsons." 

It  was  the  son  of  this  old  gentleman  (who  was 
good  at  trading  a  horse  or  selecting  a  text)  who 
went  to  Jerusalem  in  1821  and  died  in  Alexan 
dria,  Egypt. 

There  is  a  legend,  not  disputed  by  the  candi 
date,  that  the  first  money  he  ever  earned  was  for 
ringing  the  church-bell  in  the  town  of  Winchen- 
don. 

COMING   NEARER. 

The  address  of  Mr.  Morton  to  the  committee 
appointed  to  advise  him  of  his  nomination — which 
was  headed  by  Mr.  Estee,  of  California — contains 
a  proper  reference  to  the  honor  paid  to  the  State 
of  New  York,  which,  for  its  influence  in  the  coun 
try,  has  been  frequently  overlooked  in  our  larger 
politics. 

The  first  Chief- Justice  was  taken  from  this 
State,  but  the  Presidential  honor  was  only  di 
rectly  conferred  upon  it  in  the  cases  of  Van 
Buren  and  Cleveland.  The  Republican  party 
has  never  selected  the  Presidential  candidate 
from  New  York,  though  Mr.  Seward  in  this 
State  was  the  chief  founder  of  that  party. 

Mr.  Morton  remarked: 

"  I  am  .also  deeply  sensible  of  the  honor  con 
ferred  upon  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  selec 
tion  of  a  citizen  of  this  State  as  one  of  the 


LEVI    P.    MORTON,  397 

standard-bearers  in  the  approaching1  peaceful 
conflict  of  the  two  great  political  parties  of  the 
country  for  supremacy  and  the  governmental 
control. 

"New  York  represents  in  a  large  degree  the 
business  interests  of  all  those  ever-growing, 
widespreading  communities  of  varied  interests 
and  industries,  which  it  is  the  mission  of  the 
Republican  party  to  foster  and  protect." 

ROUND   ABOUT. 

Mr.  Morton  was  really  brought  into  active 
politics  at  the  entreaty  of  the  late  President 
Arthur,  who  was,  in  1876,  the  party  leader  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  anxious  to  find  men 
who  would  draw  voters  out  of  the  general  citi 
zenship.  The  Boston  Advertiser  of  a  late  date 
embodied  the  main  traits  of  Mr.  Morton  as  a 
member  of  Congress  in  the  article  which  an 
nounced  his  nomination,  as  follows : 

"In  his  Congressional  service  of  four  years  he 
was  true  to  principle  and  independent  and  fear 
less  in  action.  He  spoke  only  when  the  right 
demanded  speech.  He  spoke  with  terseness, 
clearness  and  sincerity.  His  colleagues,  know 
ing  his  singleness  of  purpose,  accepted  his  state 
ments  without  question  and  weighed  his  argu 
ments  attentively.  None  of  his  addresses,  brist 
ling  with  facts,  out  of  his  long  experience  in 
commerce  and  finance.,  exceeded  fifteen  minutes 


398  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

in  delivery;  yet  they  were  conceded  to  be  the 
strongest  appeals  that  were  made." 

Mr.  Morton's  interest  in  the  college  which  he 
had  designed  to  enter  and  where  his  brother  was 
graduated,  has  been  as  regardful  as  one  of  its 
Alumni. 

Just  before  the  national  conventions  met,  the 
Trustees  of  Middleboro  College  established  a 
"  Morton  Professorship "  of  Latin  and  French, 
upon  the  basis  of  ten  thousand  dollars'  gift  from 
Mr.  Morton — which  sum  was  increased  his  other 
friends  of  the  college. 

In  the  academy  at  Evansville,  Ind.,  where  Mr. 
Morton's  eldest  sister  was  a  principal,  were  edu 
cated  John  W.  Foster,  the  American  minister  to 
several  countries,  Mrs.  Justice  Harlan  and  Mrs. 
Samuel  Bayard.  Mr.  Morton  went  out  to  see  his 
sisters  in  the  West — and  two  of  his  sisters  are 
said  to  have  been  twins. 

A  bit  of  story  is  told  about  these  sisters,  which 
may  be  true. 

•Mr.  Hartpence,  the  minister,  fell  in  love  with 
one  of  them,  and  she  informed  him  that  she  did 
not  believe  she  was  adapted  to  be  a  minister's 
wife,  but  that  she  had  a  twin  sister — so  much  like 
herself  in  appearance  that  their  own  relatives 
could  hardly  tell  them  apart — but  who  had  a 
very  different  disposition  and  was  adapted  for 
parsonage  life ;  it  is  said  that  Mr.  Hartpence 
married  the  sister  on  the  recommendation  of 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  399 

the  twin.     The  Evansville  Academy  was  estab 
lished  before  the  day  of  free  schools  in  Indiana. 

COUNTRY    HOME. 

The  pleasant  Morton  estate,  of  Ellerslie,  N.  Y., 
was  bought  from  the  Indians  in  1686,  in  the  time 
of  Governor  Dongan ;  for  a  long  time  it  was  in 
possession  of  the  Kip  family,  who  sold  it  in  1814 
to  Maturin  Livingston,  husband  of  the  only  child 
of  Governor  Morgan  Lewis.  It  was  Livingston 
who  erected  the  former  mansion,  which  Mr.  Mor 
ton  has  recently  removed. 

In  1841  the  grounds  belonged  to  William  Kelly, 
of  New  York,  who  paid  $42,000  for  400  acres  of 
the  property,  and  made  it  the  centre  of  a  park  of 
500  acres. 

As  the  general  reader  may  like  to  know  what 
are  the  impressions  of  a  bright  new  place  like 
this,  I  will  say  that  the  main  house  is  archi 
tectural,  but  in  tone  exceedingly  quiet,  verandas 
enclosing  nearly  three  sides  of  the  villa,  and  on 
two  sides  these  verandas  have  a  circular  exten 
sion  opposite  circular  bays  in  the  walls. 

The  principal  feature  is  probably  the  hall,  which 
is  twenty-five  feet  wide,  and  it  is  ribbed  above 
with  twenty-seven  black  oak  beams,  and  wains 
coted  in  oak  to  a  considerable  height. 

Upon  this  hall  open  nearly  all  the  apartments 
of  the  first  floor,  consisting  of  a  library  which 
communicates  with  the  dining-room,  and  is  Mr. 


4OO  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

Morton's  place  of  study  and  work ;  a  drawing- 
room,  which  has  a  more  private  salon  at  its  angle, 
a  billiard  room  at  the  corner,  and  two  offices  for 
clerks  or  visitors. 

The  stairway  is  recessed  from  the  hall,  and  is 
very  easy  of  ascent  and  correspondingly  rounda 
bout  ;  and  opposite  the  stairway  is  a  fireplace, 
to  make  the  hall  sprightly  in  dark  or  coolish 
weather. 

Wood  is  liberally  used  throughout  this  house 
for  wainscotings,  and  the  dining-room  is  wains 
coted  to  the  height  of  perhaps  twelve  feet,  in  oak 
panels. 

The  second  and  third  floors  are  built  quite 
open,  with  a  large  area  at  the  centre  of  the  house, 
on  which  open  doors  to  each  room ;  the  general 
finish  of  the  walls  is  in  hard,  white  plaster.  The 
external  woodwork  and  verandas  are  painted  of 
a  dark,  brownish  red. 

Close  by  is  a  laundry  in  a  separate  building, 
and  the  stables. 

Work  is  being  done  upon  the  roads  and 
grounds  constantly.  By  the  aid  of  a  lake  or 
pond,  water  is  forced  into  a  tank  in  a  bit  of  woods, 
and  thence  carried  into  the  buildings. 

As  I  was  riding  to  the  station,  after  spending  a 
night  at  Ellerslie,  I  remarked  to  the  coachman 
that  Mr.  Morton  seemed  to  be  an  equal  tem 
pered  man. 

"  Yes,"  said  he  ;  "  I  have  been  with  him  for  nine 


" 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  40 1 

years,  and  I  have  never  seen  him  out  of  temper, 
or  complaining,  or  sick  yet." 

Mr.  Kelly  aforesaid  did  a  great  deal  of  work  on 
Ellerslie  Park,  and  showed  good  taste  in  preserv 
ing  the  clumps  of  trees,  and  sowing  wheat  between 
them,  so  that  as  one  looks  out  from  the  southern 
windows  of  the  mansion,  where  the  best  breeze 
enters,  he  can  see  roundish  spots  of  forest  ar- 
borage  and  the  wheat  and  corn,  with  their  yellow 
contrasts ;  the  line  of  the  river  is  strongly  in 
dented  in  capes  and  headlands,  and  in  the  distant 
middle  ground  is  an  island  and  a  lighthouse, 
whilst  the  rift  of  the  Highlands,  which  separates 
the  West  from  the  East,  gives  access  to  the  great 
city  and  the  ocean. 

Twenty  years  ago  Hudson  river  property  was 
rather  out  of  fashion,  from  the  tendency  of  families 
of  means  to  come  to  the  city  and  to  spend  their 
summers  at  hotels.  Under  the  good  influence  of 
more  recent  times — the  Americans  having  visited 
foreign  countries  and  concluded  that  their  own 
was  the  best — this  river  property  has  come  into 
not  merely  fashion,  but  affection. 

The  woodwork  throughout  Mr.  Morton's  house 

o 

is  representative  of  the  American  forest — from 
the  California  red  wood  and  black  walnut  to 
antique  oak,  white  pine,  ash  and  cherry. 

DIGRESSION. 

Hitherto  the  nominating  Conventions  of  both 
26 


402 


LEVI    P.    MORTON. 


parties  have  confined  their  choice  to  either  mili 
tary  men,  lawyers  or  politicians.  The  merchant, 
as  such,  has  never  been  recognized  for  either 
place  upon  the  electoral  ticket. 

Yet  the  merchant,  and  especially  the  merchant 
banker,  is  the  quantity  first  held  in  recognition 
after  a  ticket  is  chosen,  to  give  his  influence  and 
contribution. 

In  the  early  portion  of  the  Republican  century 
the  slave-holding  interest,  which  had  the  incentive 
of  defensive  organization  against  the  progress  of 
days,  took  possession  of  the  executive  govern 
ment,  giving  the  Vice-Presidency  at  times  to  some 
Eastern  or  Western  man  as  a  makeshift. 

Dewitt  Clinton,  who  established  the  water  com 
munications  of  New  York,  and  therefore  the 
commonwealth,  never  was  able  to  run  for  as 
much  as  the  Vice-Presidency.  Mr.  VanBuren 
was  the  first  President  who  took  into  account  the 
utility  of  literary  men  like  Irving  and  Paulding 
for  executive  and  foreign  places.  Both  Fillmore 
and  Arthur  became  Presidents  by  the  accident  of 
the  death  of  the  President. 

It  was  Arthur  who  began  to  see  that  the  very 
uncertain  political  bias  of  the  State  of  New  York 
required  its  commercial  element  to  be  brought 
into  public  life. 

He  had  been  the  collector  of  the  port  for  a 
long  term,  and  as  the  son  of  a  minister,  with  a 
wife  well  qualified  for  social  leadership,  he  began 


LEVI    r*.    MORTON.  403 

to  look  about  him  among  the  cordial-minded 
merchants  and  fiscal  characters  of  the  city. 

There  was  no  man  who  seemed  so  well  adapted 
for  the  public  trial  as  Mr.  Morton. 

That  selection  has  borne  fruit  in  the  course  of 
only  twelve  years,  so  that  Congressman  Morton 
is  now  in  the  second  position  of  prominence  which 
a  political  party  has  the  power  to  confer. 

He  appeals  to  the  self-respect  of  the  mercan 
tile  element  of  the  land,  which  has  allowed  itself 
for  almost  a  century  to  be  overlooked  by  political 
caucuses  and  conventions. 

He  presents  the  instance  of  a  man  who  had  no 
adventitious  circumstances  to  advance  him,  whose 
chief  endowments  were  honesty  and  cheerfulness, 
and  who  has  always  separated  himself  from 
dubious  alliances ;  who  has  reflected  upon  no 
man,  but  has  held  up  the  example  of  his  child 
hood,  believing  that  "  uprightness  is  worth,"  and 
that  in  the  family  is  compensation  for  career. 

His  election  to  the  Vice-Presidency  would  be 
in  the  line  of  that  real  civil  service  which  requires 
our  politics  to  be  recruited  from  the  nobler  walks 
of  life  and  the  higher  paths  of  responsibility. 

American  merchants  have  been  called  upon  to 
come  to  the  relief  of  political  parties,  to  provide 
for  the  families  of  deceased  or  unfortunate  public 
men,  to  lend  their  names  to  public  meetings,  and 
after  the  conflict  had  been  over  the  distribution 
of  favors  has  returned  to  the  political  class  which 


404  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

is  ever  hungry  and  is  invidious  about  the  claims 
of  commercial  supporters.  New  York  State, 
with  its  driving  heart  in  New  York  city,  has 
finally  extricated  from  the  usual  coterie  of  com 
petitors  a  man  who  was  a  merchant  until  he  had 
learned  that  art  in  every  particular.  This  is  an 
age  of  surprises  and  of  changes ;  and  surely 
what  is  needed  in  the  American  character  is  mer 
cantile  honor.  Not  even  the  exigencies  of  politi 
cal  opposition  can  make  his  countrymen  believe 
that  Mr.  Morton  has  been  other  than  a  faithful 
citizen  and  sound  merchant,  a  reliable  banker,  a 
gentle  and  manly  host. 

THE    IRISH    FAMINE. 

One  of  Mr.  Morton's  thoughtful  acts  of  charity 
took  place  in  the  year  1880.  There  was  a  famine 
at  the  time  in  Ireland,  and  loud  calls  for  help  were 
made,  especially  to  the  American  people.  A  com 
mittee  was  formed  and  appeals  were  generally 
made  for  contributions,  and  the  government  was 
induced  to  offer  the  old  ship  Constellation  to  take 
the  American  donations  to  the  Irish. 

It  leaked  out  in  a  little  while  that  there  were 
no  contributions  to  freight  the  ship. 

At  this  juncture  a  letter  was  received  by  the 
New  York  Herald,  which  was  doing  work  for 
the  sufferers.  The  letter  read  as  follows : 

"  NEW  YORK,  March  9,  1880. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

"  I  learned  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  that  the  ship  Constellation, 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  405 

which  he  proposes  to  send  with  contributions  of  food  to  Ireland  under 
the  authority  of  the  joint  resolution  of  both  houses  of  Congress  approved 
February  25, 1880,  is  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  and  that  no  tenders  of 
cargo  have  been  made. 

"  You  are  authorized  to  announce  that  a  gentleman  personally  known 
to  you,  who  declines  to  have  his  name  made  public,  offers  to  pay  for  one- 
quarter  of  the  cargo  of  the  Constellation  if  other  parties  will  make  up  the 
balance. 

"  The  capacity  of  the  ship  is  equal  to  2,300  barrels  of  flour,  but  her 
cargo  should  be  made  up  of  flour,  oatmea>l  and  seed  potatoes,  which  last 
would  arrive  in  time  for  planting,  and  replace  those  which  the  sufferers 
have  been  forced  to  use  to  sustain  life.  I  shall  desire  the  distribution  of 
the  cargo  to  be  made  by  Mr.  Bennett's  Committee. 

"As  you  are  aware,  those  articles  of  food  will  be  delivered  free  of  cost 
save  to  the  government.  If  you  approve  the  idea  you  can  make  the 
proposition  without  (for  the  present  at  least)  using  my  name.  You  may 
assume  to  guarantee  the  performance  of  my  offer. 

"  Believe  me,  very  truly  yours, 
"A  FRIEND." 

The  Herald  then  editorially  called  loudly  for 
seconders  of  this  proposition.  It  said: 

"This  gentleman,  who  is  personally  known  to 
us  and  whose  responsibility  we  can  so  safely 
announce  that  we  assume  to  guarantee  the  per 
formance  of  his  offer,  proposes  to  pay  for  one- 
quarter  of  the  cargo.  The  Herald  offers  to  bear 
the  expense  of  another  quarter  of  a  full  cargo  for 
the  Constellation  on  the  same  condition  made  by 
this  gentleman,  namely — *  if  other  parties  will 
make  up  the  balance.' ' 

Thereupon  scattering  contributions  came  in  ; 
in  one  case  of  100  barrels  of  potatoes,  in  another 
of  five  barrels,  etc. 

By  the  1 6th  of  March  the  Constellation  was  get 
ting  ready  for  her  voyage.  Edward  E.  Potter 


406  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

was  made  commander  of  the  ship  by  the*  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy. 

On  the  1 7th  of  March  'Mr.  W.  R.  Grace,  after 
ward  mayor  of  the  city,  gave  oae-quarter  further 
of  the  ship's  cargo. 

General  contributions  were  not  forthcoming 
however ;  and  the  Herald  announced,  nine  days 
after  Mr.  Morton's  letter: 

"  The  Constellation  will  have  a  full  cargo  within 
a  few  days.  This  splendid  success  is  in  great 
part  due  to  the  eminently  benevolent  thought  of 
an  anonymous  citizen  of  New  York,  who  set  the 
ball  in  motion  by  offering  to  pay  for  one-quarter 
of  the  cargo  of  the  Constellation  provided  the  other 
three-quarters  were  made  up,  and  the/z^rtf/^offered 
to  defray  the  cost  of  another  quarter  on  the  same 
condition.  It  is  now  certain  that  a  full  cargo  will 
be  supplied,  and  we  accept,  for  the  anonymous 
citizen  who  started  this  movement,  and  for  our 
selves,  the  obligation  and  furnish  our  respective 
quarters  without  awaiting  the  final  fulfilment  of 
the  proposed  condition. 

"  The  first  two  offers  have  ceased  to  be  condi 
tional. 

"The  anonymous  gentleman  will  supply  one- 
quarter  of  the  cargo  and  the  Herald  another  one- 
quarter  without  awaiting  further  pledges  of  con 
tributions." 

Finally  the  Messrs.  Thurber  gave  300  barrels 
to  complete  the  cargo.  When  the  ship  was  put 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  407 

in  commission  and  was  ready  to  start  the  Herald 
said: 

"  We  congratulate  the  friends  of  suffering  Ire 
land  that  this  first  cargo  has  been  so  promptly 
made  up.  This  is  due  in  great  part  to  the  dis 
tinguished  citizen  who  so  generously  started  the 
movement.  There  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
any  longer  conceal  his  name.  As  his  offer  was 
conditional,  and  it  was  uncertain  whether  the  con 
dition  would  be  complied  with,  he  had  a  reluctance 
to  see  his  name  connected  with  an  offer  which  he 
might  not  be  called  upon  to  fulfil.  But  now  that 
the  cargo  is  complete  and  the  offer  binding  we  take 
the  liberty  to  state  that  the  generous  donor  who 
infused  life  into  this  movement  is  Hon.  Levi  P. 
Morton." 

THE    IRISH    VOYAGE. 

Towards  the  time  of  the  Constellation's  sailing 
it  was  found  that  her  entire  cargo  consisted  of 
1,271  barrels  of  potatoes,  673  barrels  of  flour, 
750  barrels  of  corn-meal,  150  barrels  of  oatmeal, 
100  suits  of  clothing,  and  55  cases  of  prepared 
meats. 

The  Constellation  had  sailed  for  Havre  with 
goods  for  the  French  Exposition  in  1878  ;  her 
crew  to  Ireland  consisted  of  79  men  and  17  offi 
cers — some  of  the  former  naval  apprentices. 

Mr.  Morton's  contribution,  as  the  Herald 
printed  it  finally,  was  325  barrels  of  potatoes,  256 


408  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

barrels  of  corn-meal,  300  barrels  of  flour,  and  50 
barrels  of  oatmeal,  a  total  of  831  barrels. 

The  Constellation  arrived  at  Queens  town  April 
the  2oth.  The  Duke  of  Edinburgh  soon  came 

o 

.  aboard,  and  it  was  reported  that  in  the  region  of 
;  Gal  way  the  people  only  had  food  for  five  days 
left,  so  that  it  was  immediately  necessary  to  for 
ward  these  American  supplies. 

As  the  different  British  tugs  and  transports 
took  off  food  to  run  it  to  seaports  adjacent  to  the 
famine,  each  vessel  floated  the  American  flag; 
and  finally  the  entire  line  of  shipping  around  the 
harbor  was  clothed  in  Yankee  bunting.  The 
city  of  Cork  gave  a  banquet  to  the  officers  of  the 
ship,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  there  remarked  : 

"  My  brother,  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  has  been 
for  five  or  six  weeks  absent  on  duty  in  Ireland, 
where  he  has  lately  had  the  opportunity  of  taking 
supplies  for  distribution  on  the  west  coast  from 
that  gallant  ship,  the  Constellation,  sent  over  by 
our  American  cousins  so  nobly  and  generously,  to 
afford  relief  to  their  distressed  brethren  in  Ire 
land." 

Among  the  middies  of  the  ship  was  young 
Halpine,  the  son  of  General  Halpine,  otherwise 
known  as  "  Miles  O'Reilly." 

The  freedom  of  the  city  of  Dublin  was  con 
ferred  on  Captain  Potter ;  and  an  Irish  paper  re 
marked  : 

"The  last  barrel  was  taken  from  the  ship  on 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  409 

Monday.  Every  ounce  of  meal  has  before  this 
time  been  distributed  over  the  district  extending 
from  Cork  to  Donegal.  Almost  the  entire  cargo 
has  gone  to  the  islands  and  to  the  most  distant 
points  along  the  coast,  to  which  assistance  from 
the  relief  funds  cannot  be  sent  so  regularly  or  so 
often  as  to  more  inland  places." 

Such  is  the  plain  story  of  the  relief  for  the 
Irish  famine. 

Thus,  within  a  very  few  years,  Mr.  Morton  had 
assisted  to  settle  differences  between  England 
and  America,  and  had  put  in  motion  a  compre 
hensive  system  of  relief  from  the  Irish  famine. 
He  had  proved  that  the  quality  of  mercy  is  not 
strained,  and  that  wherever  there  is  "  a  place  be 
neath  "  in  need  of  that  "gentle  rain,"  whether 
America  or  Ireland  or  EnglancJ,  there  the  charity 
should  fall. 

WALK    BACK. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Morton's  political  life  is 
short  and  to  the  point. 

He  first  ran  for  Congress  in  the  year  1876,  not 
coming  forward  till  six  days  before  the  election. 
What  is  generally  called  the  "  Windsor"  district 
in  New  York  was  in  dispute ;  it  stretches  from 
the  upper  city  to  Harlem  on  both  sides,  of  Fifth 
Avenue,  and  was  held  at  the  time  by  Mr.  Benjamin 
Willis,  a  forcible  speaker,  who  omitted  nothing 
to  carry  his  point.  So  fierce  was  his  method  that 


410  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

he  had  been  sent  out  to  Ohio  to  sturnp  General 
Garfield's  district  and  beat  him  for  Congress  at 
a  time  when  sensation  was  running  at  a  gallop 
through  the  land. 

Mr.  Morton  might  have  been  suppos-ed  to  be 
the  last  person  who  would  buckle  against  such  a 
competitor,  but  his  tranquillity  is  far  removed 
from  the  sense  of  alarm. 

He  accepted  the  nomination  for  Congress  in 
the  following  language : 

No.  503  Fifth  Avenue, 

NEW  YORK,  October  31,  1876. 
"  Gentlemen  .• 

"  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  communications  advising  me  that  I  have  been 
honored  by  the  Republicans  of  this  district  with  their  unanimous  nomina 
tion  for  Congress.  It  is  a  distinction  which  I  have  not  solicited,  and  I 
am  not  sure  of  my  fitness  for  the  place.  I  have  never  been  a  politician, 
have  never  sought  or  contemplated  holding  office,  and  am  by  training 
and  tastes  simply  a  man  of  business.  If,  however,  in  your  judgment  I 
can  serve  the  district  and  protect  its  interest  in  Congress,  I  shall  feel 
constrained  to  regard  your  nomination  as  the  call  to  a  plain  public  duty 
•which  I  have  no  right  to  shirk.  I  believe  the  Republic  has  a  right  to 
command  the  services  of  its  humblest  citizen,  and  in  obedience  to  that 
conviction  I  accept  the  nomination." 

Mr.  Morton  immediately  went  at  public  speak 
ing.  He  has  generally  been  noted  for  the  clear 
ness  and  point  with  which  he  can  address  a 
committee,  whether  a  business  or  political  com 
mittee.  Speaking  upon  the  stump  before  a 
general  audience  was  not  much  to  his  experience 
or  liking,  but  with  a  disposition  popular  in  its 
quality,  taking  his  incentive  from  a  good  purpose, 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  41  I 

he  faced  the  people  and  made  such  headway 
among  them  that  he  reduced  Mr.  Willis'  majority 
from  2,500  to  400  ;  Mr.  Morton  got  about  i  2,000 
votes,  and  they  had  to  colonize  against  him  from 
the  institutions  on  Blackwell's  Island  to  beat 
him. 

He  was  renominated,  therefore,  in  1878,  and 
elected  by  7,000  majority  over  the  same  com 
petitor.  He  now  received  1  5,000  votes. 

The  district  soon  liked  its  representative,  who 
was  to  all  men  the  same  cordial,  inquisitive, 
attentive  person,  liking  to  hear  and  to  see  the  peo 
ple.  He  went  around  among  them  like  his  old 
Congregational  pastor  of  a  father,  and  hardly  a 
man  fell  under  the  influence  of  that  clear,  bright 
skin  and  blue  eye  and  amiable  yet  strong  coun 
tenance,  but  he  perceived  that  it  is  the  touch  of 
nature  which  makes  the  world  kin,  and  that  mere 
circumstances  produce  no  alteration  in  the  man 
whose  heart  is  kind  and  whose  sense  is  general. 

In   1880  Mr.   Morton   ran   against  an  accom 
plished  and  well-equipped  Democrat,  James  W.  f 
Gerard,  Jr.,  receiving    18,000   votes.     His   vote  k 
had  run  up  from  12,000  in  the  first  case  to  15,000 
in  the  second  and   18,000  at  the  third  trial;  his 
majority  over  Willis  whom  he  politically  buried 
was  7,000  ;    his  majority  over   Mr.   Gerard  was 


NOTA    BENE. 

As  newspapers  have  changed  in  the  interven 


412  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

ing  years  largely,  let  us  see  what  was  said  of  Mr. 
Morton  when  he  came  in  the  public  eye  for  the 
first  time. 

The  New  York  Times  said  on  the  2Qth  of 
October,  1876: 

"Strong  desire  is  felt  in  the  nth  Congres 
sional  District  that  Mr.  L.  P.  Morton,  of  the  firm 
of  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.,  should  be  nominated  for 
Congress  by  the  union  committee.  No  one 
acquainted  with  the  district  can  fail  to  see  that 
he  would  be  in  every  sense  an  excellent  repre 
sentative.  He  has  extensive  interests  in  the 
right  administration  of  the  government.  His 
knowledge  and  experience  in  finance,  the  most 
important  branch  of  governmental  action  for  some 
time  to  come,  would  enable  him  to  make  valuable 
contributions  to  Federal  legislation,  while  his  high 
character  and  unwavering  devotion  to  principle 
would  be  particularly  desirable.  We  certainly 
need  more  business  men  in  Congress." 

The  New  York  Evening  Post  of  November  6th, 
1876,  said: 

"  The  nomination  of  Mr.  L.  P.  Morton  by  the 
Republicans  of  the  nth  Congressional  District 
last  evening  meets  our  requirements  in  every 
particular.  At  the  head  of  the  banking  house  of 
Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.,  Mr.  Morton  is  known  as  one 
of  our  most  successful  business  men.  He  has 
paid  much  more  than  ordinary  attention  to  the 
study  of  financial  subjects  and  he  will,  if  elected, 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  413 

be  of  the  greatest  service  in  the  preparation  and 
discussion  of  those  measures  for  securing  specie 
payments  and  for  still  further  strengthening  the 
credit  of  the  country  to  which  the  Republican  party 
stands  pledged.  No  one  is  obliged  to  inquire  of 
such  a  candidate,  *  Who  is  he?'  or  'What  has  he 
done  ?'  The  name  alone  carries  its  recommenda 
tion." 

The  New  York  Herald  said  : 
"  Mr.  Morton  has  been  a  merchant  in  this  city 
for  many  years,  and  is  acquainted  with  the  whole 
fabric  of  our  commercial  interests,  while  there  is 
certainly  no  man  in  Congress  better  fitted  to  give 
a  practical  direction  to  financial  legislation  than 
the  head  of  a  house  which  has  had  a  leading  rela 
tion  with  all  financial  events  of  any  consequence 
since  the  war." 

The  Evening  Post  again  remarked  about  the 
same  time : 

"  Few  of  our  citizens  are  as  well  known  by  the 
leading  members  of  Congress  as  Mr.  Morton,  and 
wherever  he  is  known,  he  is  respected  for  his  so 
lidity  and  sagacity  of  judgment." 

The  New  York  Times  said,  November  6th : 
"  In  the  nth  District  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton  ought 
to  be  elected  to  Congress  by  a  large  majority. 
No  more  fit  candidate  could  be  presented  for  the 
suffrages  of  such  a  district.  He  has  undoubted 
ability,  large  business  experience  and  command 
of  knowledge  of  the  financial  questions  which  must 
engage  the  attention  of  Congress." 


4H  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

The  Tribune  said,  when  the  news  of  the 
election  came  out: 

"  In  the  Murray  Hill  Congressional  District,  Mr. 
Levi  P.  Morton  runs  4,125  ahead  of  the  last  Repub 
lican  candidate,  342  ahead  of  Hayes  and  Wheeler, 
within  430  votes  of  an  election.  He  has  135  ma 
jority  exclusive  of  Yorkville,  but  that  turned  the 
scale  against  him.  Mr.  Morton  has  made  an  ad 
mirable  run  for  a  five  days'  canvass." 

The  Commercial  Advertiser  said  : 

"  Mr.  Morton's  competitor,  Willis,  had  last 
year  a  majority  of  nearly  3,000,  but  is  elected 
this  year  by  a  majority  of  less  than  500.  Mr. 
Morton  was  beat  by  the  halt,  the  lame  and  blind 
brought  from  the  Island,  marshalled  under  Com 
missioner  Brennan.  He  may  well  feel  proud  of 
the  result." 

The  Evening  Post  said  : 

"  Mr.  Morton  was  defeated  by  the  voters  on 
Randall's  Island  and  of  Ward's  Island  and  of  the 
Yorkville  part  of  the  district.  He  was  really  the 
choice  as  he  was  the  fit  representative  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  intelligent  voters,  and  proved  to 
be  an  exceptionally  strong  candidate." 

The  New  York  World,  Democratic,  said,  during 
this  campaign : 

"  Against  Mr.  Morton's  individual  character  and 
his  fitness  to  represent  his  district  in  Congress,  no 
one  who  knows  him  can  have  a  word  to  say." 


LEVI  P.  MORTON.  415 

ENVOY. 

Mr.  Morton  left  Congress  only  at  the  call  of 
President  Garfield  to  become  the  Minister  to 
France  in  1881  ;  and  under  both  Garfield  and 
Arthur  he  was  the  French  minister. 

President  Garfield  offered  him  the  place  of  Sec 
retary  of  the  Navy,  which  had  been  held  by  Mr. 
Paulding,  who  lived  on  the  shores  of  the  Hudson 
but  a  few  miles  from  where  Mr.  Morton  now  re 
sides. 

Senator  Conkling  and  many  others  had  pressed 
Mr.  Morton  for  the  place  of  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Foreseeing,  however,  painful  person 
alities  probable  to  ensue  in  the  party  he  so  much 
loved,  Mr.  Morton  preferred  to  go  out  of  the 
country  and  take  no  part  in  contentions  among 
his  friends. 

He  had  long  endeavored  to  have  Mr.  Conkling 
reconciled  to  Mr.  Elaine,  seeing  in  both  those  gen 
tlemen  abilities  and  merits  they  might  under  hap 
pier  circumstances  have  been  the  first  to  perceive 
mutually. 

When  General  Garfield  was  nominated  for 
President,  and  the  general  concession  of  the  Con 
vention  was  towards  the  State  of  New  York,  to 
select  the  Vice-Presidential  candidate,  Mr.  Morton 
could  have  had  the  place,  for  he  was  a  delegate 
in  the  Convention,  and  the  western  and  other 
members  preferred  to  vote  for  him.  But  Mr. 
Morton  declined  to  be  a  candidate  and  the  nom- 


41 6  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

ination  went  to  General  Arthur,  who,  from  this 
fact,  finally  became  the  President  of  the  country. 

In  talking  over  these  questions  no  friend  of  Mr. 
Morton  can  perceive  any  disappointment  or  regret 
in  his  nature.  He  has  been  the  natural  choice  not 
only  of  the  many  but  of  the  particular  few  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treas 
ury,  and  the  United  States  Senate.  Both  Mr. 
Evarts  and  Mr.  Hiscock  defeated  Mr.  Morton  for 
the  Senate,  and  he  is  friendly  with  both.  Not  the 
least  echo  of  chagrin  or  recrimination  has  ever 
followed  the  loss  of  any  of  these  places.  One 
man  in  the  country  has  shown  not  only  his  capa 
city  to  endure  but  to  endure  without  any  evil 
thinking.  Had  this  nature  found  imitators  all 
over  the  land,  the  Republican  party  would  not  have 
had  to  score  against  itself  four  years  of  exile  from 
office. 

Mr.  Morton  has  a  fund  of  memories  upon  which 
he  draws  most  scantily.  The  quality  of  apprecia 
tion  in  him  is  so  strong  that  one  observes  with 
wonder  that  it  does  not  extend  to  the  quality  of 
imagination.  His  patriotism  is  of  that  noble  sort 
which  recognizing  the  excellencies  of  other  lands 
holds  fondly  to  the  best  in  its  own. 

Whilst  the  fabric  of  the  man  holds  in  solution 
all  the  best  Puritan  elements,  the  expression  of 
those  elements  is  never  harsh ;  this  physical  nature 
which  shines  and  has  its  seasons  and  comes  forth 
after  every  vicissitude,  is  to  the  subject  of  our 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  417 

sketch  the  blessing  of  Heaven.  He  has  smiled 
upon  the  world  and  it  has  replied  with  a  smile. 
Never  parsimonious  he  has  been  so  grateful  for 
Nature's  bounty  that  to  him  everything  has  come 
a  little  late. 

He  married  late.  His  children  came  to  him  late 
in  life,  as  a  young  man  would  think.  Public  honors 
came  to  him  late.  Many  politicians  would  have 
been  fagged  out  long  ago  by  the  casualties  which 
interrupted  Mr.  Morton's  promotion ;  he  waited, 
and  the  Vice-Presidency  came  to  him  without  a 
struggle.  He  hesitated  about  accepting  it,  but  in 
the  words  of  the  old  housekeeper,  took  the  will 
for  the  deed.  He  thought  that  those  who  could 
tender  a  great  office,  deserved  the  acceptance  of  it. 

REMINISCENCE. 

When  he  was  living  at  Hanover,  he  boarded  in 
the  family  of  Professor  E.  D.  Sanborn,  who  mar 
ried  the  niece  of  Daniel  Webster.  Mrs.  Sanborn 
was  the  daughter  of  Daniel  Webster's  only 
brother.  There  might  have  begun  a  certain  ten 
dency  to  public  life  in  the  table  talk. 

But  the  element  in  New  England  to  which  Mr. 
Morton  belongs  is  always  appreciative  of  public 
life  if  it  comes  upon  the  tender  of  a  neighborly 
and  honorable  duty.  He  does  not  need  associa 
tions  or  reminiscences  to  suggest  to  him  that 
the  citizen  in  America,  like  his  forefathers  in  the 

town  government  of  New  England,  is  to  take  his 
27 


41 8  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

gun  or  his  book  of  statutes  or  serve  in  the  sheriff's 
posse  whenever  called  upon. 

Decided  in  his  views,  heartily  believing  that 
the  intelligent  majority  of  the  American  people 
are  anointed  to  govern,  and  satisfied  that  every 
thing  will  be  well  if  we  only  obey  and  submit  and 
strive,  Mr.  Morton  impresses  every  one  as  the 
citizen  above  all  things,  he  who  has  discerned  in 
public  opinion  a  noble  friend  and  master,  and  by 
that  discernment  lives  in  his  great  taskmaster's 
eye  cheerfully. 

President  Hinsdale,  the  successor  of  President 
Garfield  at  Hiram  College,  Ohio,  said  to  a  re 
porter  at  Cleveland: 

"  On  the  Saturday  before  his  departure  for 
Washington,  from  Mentor,  General  Garfield  said 
to  me :  '  I  have  told  'no  one  what  the  composition 
of  my  cabinet  will  be,  but  I  am  going  to  tell  you.' 
He  named  Levi  P.  Morton  for  Secretary  of  the 
Navy."  Said  Mr.  Hinsdale  further, 
-  "  Morton  had  been  tendered  the  Secretaryship 
of  the  Navy  and  had  accepted,  but  after  the 
arrival  of  General  Garfield  at  Washington,  he  was 
persuaded  to  resign  that  position.'1 

VARIOUS    ITEMS. 

While  in  Congress  Mr.  Morton  resided  in  the 
house  of  Samuel  Hooper,  deceased,  which  was 
also  for  a  time  the  quarters  of  President  Johnson 
and  the  scene  of  Mr.  Sumner's  courtship. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  419 

During  Mr.  Morton's  first  campaign  for  Con 
gress  he  made  a  speech  at  Parepa  Hall,  New 
York,  embodying  the  following  views : 

"The  vital  questions  of  the  day  are:  Shall  the 
national  honor  be  maintained  ?  Shall  the  solemn 
promise  made  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  in 
curred  for  the  salvation  of  the  country  be  held 
inviolate  ?  Shall  the  currency  which  the  working 
man  receives  for  his  labor  have  the  same  purchas 
ing  power  as  gold  ?  I  am  in  favor  of  fulfilling  all 
the  National  promises,  of  the  resumption  of  specie 
payment  on  the  first  of  January  next,  of  a  cur 
rency  redeemable  in  gold,  and  of  inflation,  an 
an  inflation  that  will  make  current  money  of  the 
$250,000,000  in  gold  now  lying  idle  in  the  vaults 
of  the  Treasury  and  the  banks.  I  am  in  favor  of 
opening  the  Harlem  and  East  rivers  for  naviga 
tion,  and  of  any  and  all  measures  that  will  tend 
to  give  increased  facilities  to  the  commerce  of 
this  great  city." 

The  draft  for  five  million  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  the  Halifax  award  was  made  by  this 
government  upon  Morton,  Rose  &  Co.,  of  London, 
with  the  proviso : 

"  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government  should 
be  distinctly  advised  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  cannot  accept  of  the  Halifax  com 
mission  as  furnishing  any  just  measure  of  the 
value  of  a  participation  of  our  citizens  in  the  in 
shore  fisheries  of  the  British  provinces,  and  it 


420  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

protests  against  the  actual  payment  now  made 
being  considered  by  Her  Majesty's  Government 
as  in  any  sense  an  acquiescence  in  such  measure." 

The  year  Mr.  Morton  was  sent  to  Congress, 
1878,  was  an  extraordinary  political  year.  The 
State  sent  twenty-four  Republicans  instead  of 
seventeen,  as  before,  to  Congress,  redeemed  Mas 
sachusetts,  made  Edward  Cooper  Mayor  of  New 
York  by  20,000  majority,  and  elected  Warner 
Miller  to  Congress  by  3,000  majority.  The  high 
water  mark  in  character  made  that  year  in  the 
election  of  Congressmen  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  the  election  of  Garfield  and  Arthur  toward  the 
close  of  that  Congress,  to  which  election  Mr. 
Morton  was  a  liberal  contributor.  Upon  his 
election  Mr.  Morton  said  in  front 'of  his  residence, 
to  a  great  assemblage.  : 

"To  the  citizens  of  this  district,  to  that  great 
power,  the  press  of  this  city,  to  my  old  associates 
the  merchants  of  New  York  who  gave  me  the 
endorsement,  far  too  complimentary,  which,  I  first 
saw  in  the  morning  papers,  and  to  my  personal 
friends,  who  have  neglected  their  own  interests  in 
their  devotion  to  my  canvass,  I  owe  a  debt  of 
gratitude  so  far  beyond  my  ability  to  repay  that 
I  must  ask  them  to  fund  it  at  a  low  rate  of  in 
terest." 

At  the  commencement  of  1879  Mr.  Morton 
was  at  the  head  of  the  nominating  committee  of 
the  Union  League,  when  attempts  were  made  to 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  42 1 

subvert  that  organization,  and  his  committee  an 
nounced  their  views  as  follows  : 

"  That  the  club  should  not  abandon  the  patri 
otic  sentiments  which  gave  it  life ;  that  it  should 
still  keep  the  duties  of  good  citizenship  prominently 
among  its  objects,  and  let  its  voice  be  heard  and  its 
strength  be  felt  whenever  great  principles  of 
national  policy  or  good  government  are  at  stake  ; 
that  the  performance  of  the  public  and  the  patri 
otic  duty  of  the  club  is  entirely  consistent  with 
the  highest  development  of  its  social  character 
istics." 

The  attitude  of  the  Union  League  Club,  at  that 
time,  had  much  to  do  with  the  selection  of  Gen 
eral  Arthur  for  Vice-President,  and  his  subsequent 
tranquil  administration.  At  the  birthday  of 
Lincoln  in  1879  Mr.  Morton  made  an  address 
before  the  Lincoln  Club,  saying : 

"  We  live  to  preserve  to  those  who  follow  us  a 
united  country  which,  under  the  guidance  of 
Lincoln,  with  God's  blessing  was  saved  by  the 
heroic  service  of  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Far- 
ragut,  Porter  and  the  million  brave  men  who 
risked  or  gave  their  lives  that  the  nation  might 
live." 

IN   LEGISLATION. 

The  newspapers  announced  early  in  April, 
1879,  that  Secretary  Sherman  was  closeted  the 
greater  part  of  the  afternoon  with  Mr.  Baker  of 


422  LEV!    P.    MORTON. 

the  First  National  Bank  of  New  York'  and  Mr. 
L.  P.  Morton,  of  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.,  completing 
the  arrangements  for  the  huge  subscription  to 
the  four  per  cent,  loan  which  clears  out  the  re 
maining  ten-forties." 

Harpers'  Weekly  announced  in  1879:  "There 
is  little  doubt  that  reasonable  bi-metalism  has 
made  recently  very  rapid  progress  in  public  favor, 
and  the  speech  of  Mr.  Morton  of  New  York, 
terse  and  vigorous  as  it  was,  and  Mr.  McCulloch's 

o 

lecture  at  Cambridge,  are  striking  illustrations  of 
the  fact." 

Mr.  Morton  in  Congress  was  one  of  a  sub 
committee  to  draw  up  resolutions  in  regard  to 
the  treatment  of  American  Jews  in  foreign  coun 
tries,  demanding  that  they  be  placed  on  a  foot 
ing  of  equal  dignity  with  other  United  States 
citizens. 

The  London  Daily  News  quoted  from  Mr.  Mor 
ton  in  an  issue  about  that  time,  as  saying,  in 
effect,  to  the  leading  commercial  nations  of  the 
world : 

"We  will  not  attempt  to  help  you  out  of  your 
troubles  until  you  agree  with  us  to  use  silver  as 
a  measure  of  value.  We  are  ready  to  enter  into 
such  a  mutual  compact  with  you  as  will  have  the 
effect  of  restoring  silver  to  its  old  steadiness  of 
value,  so  that  it  may  again  be  a  measure  of  other 
values.  The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  city 
of  New  York  will  the  clearing  house  for  the 
commercial  exchanges  of  the  world." 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  423 

Mr.  Morton  reported  the  resolution  from  the 
committee  on  foreign  affairs  to  appoint  commis 
sioners  and  have  the  United  States  well  repre 
sented  at  both  the  Australian  exhibitions. 

He  also  introduced  a  bill  to  make  cable  tele 
graphy  free  with  respect  to  equal  rights  for  all 
about  landing  cables  on  our  coasts,  and  pursuant 
to  that  bill  additional  cables  were  soon  put  down, 
so  that  for  the  past  year  or  two  cable  rates  to 
Europe  have  been  a  New  York  shilling  a  word 
instead  of  four  English  shillings  a  word. 

In  one  of  his  addresses  before  his  constituency 
Mr.  Morton  used  the  following  language  : 

"Republican  financial  policy,  despite  Demo 
cratic  abuse,  has  achieved  the  successful  resump 
tion  of  specie  payments  and  restored  confidence 
and  brought  renewed  prosperity  throughout  the 
land,  reduced  the  national  interest-bearing  debt 
from  twenty-four  hundred  millions  in  1865  to 
eighteen  hundred  millions,  and  the  annual  interest 
charge  from  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  millions  to 
eighty-four  millions.  Will  the  Democrats  of  the 
North,  who  stood  by  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the 
army  of  the  Union,  under  the  heroic  leadership 
of  Grant,  now  consent  to  place  the  control  of  the 
national  government  in  the  hands  of  the  men  who 
sought  its  destruction  ?  Will  they  support  the 
financial  "policy  of  the  Democratic  party,  con 
trolled  by  a  solid  South  ?  I  believe  not.  Let  the 
Democrats  and  Republicans  of  New  York  unite 


424  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

once  more  and  declare  in  loud  tones  on  the  fourth 
of  November  that  the  Republic  of  the  United 
States  is  a  nation  and  not  a  confederacy  of  States  ; 
that  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  shall  have 
a  free  vote,  and  that  the  honor  and  good  faith  of 
the  republic  shall  be  held  sacred  for  all  time." 

Mr.  Morton  introduced  bills  in  Congress  to  fa 
cilitate  the  negotiation  of  bills  of  lading,  to  re 
lieve  the  sugar  refiners  from  a  dubious  standard 
of  color  as  the  sole  basis  of  dutiable  value,  and 
many  other  measures. 

He  advocated  the  appropriation  of  twenty  thou 
sand  dollars  to  make  the  fine  exhibit  of  American 
fish  and  fisheries  at  Berlin,  where  the  Americans 
captured  the  main  prize.  This  speech  was  replete 
with  figures  on  the  fishery  question.  The  rapid 
propagation  of  fish  in  American  rivers  and  bays 
and  their  consequent  cheapening,  especially  to  the 
people  of  the  interior,  are  largely  due  to  Mr. 
Morton's  efforts  in  Congress. 

The  regulation  and  purification  of  the  foreign 
immigrant  system  was  of  Mr.  Morton's  moving 
in  Congress,  and  hence  at  the  present  day  the 
government  returns  to  the  countries  guilty  of  the 
inhumanity  of  shipping  them  to  us,  the  infirm 
paupers,  criminals  and  idiots  who  were  formerly 
turned  into  the  body  of  American  citizenship. 

Among  the  numerous  newspaper  bits  bearing 
upon  the  record  of  Mr.  Morton  I  find  that  when 
five  hundred  mechanics  on  the  big  hotel  at  Rock- 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  425 

away,  Long  Beach,  were  unable  to  get  their 
wages  and  their  families  were  absolutely  without 
bread,  the  new  receiver  of  the  property  stated 
the  case  to  Mr.  Morton,  who  drew  his  check  for 
the  relief  of  those  mechanics,  buying  the  certifi 
cates  at  par  without  discount,  though  he  prob 
ably  felt  that  they  might  be  so  much  moonshine. 
Mr.  Drexel  had  an  equal  part  in  this  generosity. 

MAN    OF    PEACE. 

Coincident  with  Mr.  Morton's  second  marriage 
the  newspaper  files  show  that  he  was  before  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  in  the  early  part 
of  1873,  making  a  statement  on  the  subject  of  the 
new  funding  bill  and  of  the  syndicate  to  impress 
the  conviction  that  the  6  per  cent,  bonds  could  be 
funded  at  5  per  cent. 

The  first  syndicate,  that  of  1871,  omitted  the 
Drexels,  the  Barings,  J.  S.  Morgan  &  Co.  and 
Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.  These  firms  came  into  the 
second  negotiation,  with  a  proposition  to  take  at 
least  one  hundred  million  dollars  of  the  new 
bonds.  Ultimately,  the  several  bankers,  old  and 
new,  harmoniously  took  the  whole  three  hundred 
millions. 

It  was  this  low  funding  of  our  bonds  in  1873 
which  prepared  the  way  for  Mr.  Sherman  to  re 
sume  specie  payments  a  few  years  afterward. 

As  a  prominent  member  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  Mr.  Morton  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the 


426  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

majority  report  at  the  time  of  the  Louisiana  inter 
ference  by  the  administration.  A  frantic  attempt 
had  been  made  at  that  time  to  disparage  General 
Grant,  and  the  club  was  being  pressed  by  certain 
of  the  papers  to  formulate  such  hostility,  of  which 
the  Republican  party  was  constantly  the  object 
of  persecution  from  within.  The  majority  report 
expressed  the  view  that : 

"  Military  interference  with  the  organization  of 
any  body  of  men  being  or  claiming  to  be  entitled 
to  exercise  the  legislative  sovereignty  of  such  a 
State  is  most  dangerous  to  republican  institutions. 
.  .  .  While  we  thus  condemn  the  principle  of 
military  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  State,  it 
is  due  to  truth  and  justice  to  say  that  no  evi 
dence  appears  of  the  action  on  the  part  of  officers 
in  command  in  Louisiana  to  favor  either  one  or 
the  other  of  the  contesting  political  parties,  or  to 
interfere  for  any  purpose  other  than  to  restrain 
physical  violence  and  preserve  the  peace ;  and 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  owe  a  debt 
of  respect  and  gratitude  to  Lieutenant-General 
Sheridan  for  his  great  services  during  the  Rebel 
lion,  to  balance  and  cancel  a  much  more  serious 
fault  than  any  he  may  have  committed  while  per 
forming  duties  of  great  delicacy  at  a  distance  from 
the  Commander-in-Chief  and  his  constitutional 
advisers,  and  in  the  face  of  persons  and  interests 
whom  but  lately  he  had  met  in  a  state  of  war  and 
been  compelled  to  conquer  as  enemies." 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  427 

The  sequel  proves  all  things.  In  June,  when 
Mr.  Morton  was  placed  on  the  Republican  ticket 
for  Vice-President,  General  Sheridan  was  the 
national  invalid,  having  had  the  endorsements  of 
the  political  conventions  of  both  parties  during  the 
present  year  without  a  dissenting  voice.  As  Gen 
eral  Grant,  who  was  so  often  traduced  and  the 
endeavor  made  to  segregate  him  from  the  public 
support,  passed  to  his  tomb  amid  universal  lam 
entations,  so  the  death  of  his  trusted  and  chosen 
friend  in  August  has  evoked  equal  expression  of 
the  nation's  loss. 

The  New  York  World,  of  April  12,  1878,  said : 

"  Secretary  Sherman  yesterday  afternoon  suc 
ceeded  in  accomplishing  the  object  of  his  present 
visit  to  New  York,  and  arranged  for  the  disposal 
of  $50,000,000  bonds,  from  which  sale  he  is  of  the 
opinion  that  he  will  obtain  enough  gold  to  carry 
out  his  scheme  of  resumption  on  the  ist  of  Janu 
ary,  1879.  The  last  of  a  number  of  conferences 
that  the  Secretary  has  had  with  bankers  and  bank 
officers  relative  to  this  matter  was  held  at  the 
Sub-Treasury  yesterday." 

It  appears  that  there  were  about  half  a  dozen 
callers  upon  the  Secretary  that  day,  and  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  interview  the  agreement  was 
published.  Ten  million  dollars  were  at  once  to  be 
put  up  and  during  the  rest  of  the  year  five  mil 
lion  dollars  per  month.  The  new  bonds,  bearing 
per  cent,  interest,  were  sold  at  par  and  ac- 


428  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

crued  interest  and  \y2  per  cent,  premium  in  gold 
coin. 

There  were  five  individuals  taking  this  resump 
tion  loan  on  behalf  of  their  several  firms,  and  the 
third  name  in  the  list  was  that  of  Morton,  Bliss  & 
( Co.  The  bonds  at  once  advanced  one-quarter  of 
one  per  cent. 

The  World  stated  that  the  terms  obtained  by 
the  Secretary  from  the  syndicate  were  ij^  per 
cent,  more  advantageous  to  the  government  than 
those  offered  by  the  National  banks. 

Such  was  the  operation  which  brought  about 
"  the  crowning  mercy  "  of  the  restoration  of  specie, 
or  of  our  currency  to  the  rank  of  specie. 

Since  that  time  an  American  greenback  or  a 
National  Bank  note  can  be  used  anywhere  in 
Europe  at  par,  like  Bank  of  England  notes  or  the 
notes  of  the  Bank  of  France.  Free  and  full 
trade,  in  the  sense  of  universal  money,  has  since 
gone  along  until  the  revenues  of  this  government 
easily  exceed  its  ordinary  necessities. 

BITS    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 

It  was  on  the  2Oth  of  January  that  Mr.  Morton 
lost  his  only  son,  Louis  Parsons/in  London,  who 
died  in  infancy.  The  loss  was  keenly  felt  by  the 
parents. 

Mrs.  Morton,  by  the  way,  is  a  near  relative  of 
the  Phil.  Kearny  family,  with  their  numerous 
Knickerbocker  connections  on  both  sides  of  the 
Hudson  river. 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  429 

The  following  suggestive  notice  appeared  in 
the  New  York  Times  for  1868  : 

"We  were  permitted  yesterday  to  look  at  a 
costly  and  elaborate  service  of  silver  plate  just 
executed  on  the  order  of  a  committee  from  ten  or 
twelve  of  our  city  banks  designed  as  a  compli 
ment  to  an  honorable  and  high-toned  merchant, 
who,  some  years  after  his  legal  release  by  compo 
sition  of  debts  incurred  in  less  fortunate  days  than 
he  now  enjoys,  voluntarily  stepped  forward  and 
paid  up  the  balances  due  upon  his  old  liabilities. 
The  plate  and  legend  upon  it  may  proudly  be 
transmitted  as  heirlooms  to  his  family." 

ALLY. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  political  incidents 
in  the  life  of  Levi  P.  Morton  was  his  appearance 
at  the  celebrated  Warren  (Ohio)  meeting  in  the 
vicinity  of  General  Garfield's  home  at  Mentor. 
Some  factional  feeling  was  operating  to  the  dis 
advantage  of  the  Republican  national  ticket.  It 
was  felt  that  General  Grant  held  in  his  hands  the 
talisman  of  harmony.  Grant  thereupon,  though 
an  ex-President,  went  to  the  front  and  brought 
about  the  meeting  between  Garfield  and  Conk- 
ling  and  others. 

Mr.  Morton  rode  in  the  carnage  with  Grant, 
Conkling  and  Logan  from  the  station  up  to  Gen 
eral  Garfield's  house. 

The  following  February,  according  to  the  news- 


43°  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

paper  accounts,  Mr.  Conkling  made  a  special  visit 
to  Mentor  to  have  Mr.  Morton  made  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  Ultimately  Senator  Windom 
was  selected,  and  in  the  course  of  time  dissen 
sions  overwhelmed  the  State  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Morton,  enjoying  the  friendship  of  Mr. 
Conkling,  whose  talents  he  admired,  labored  with 
all  tact  and  assiduity  for  years  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation  between  that  gentleman  and  Mr. 
Elaine.  But  too  much  time  had  intervened  and 
officious  tongues  had  prattled  their  deadliest. 
The.  principals  were  very  opposite  in  tempera 
ment,  and  it  seemed  to  be  one  of  those  cases 
where  the  awkwardness  of  coming  together  was 
greater  than  the  public  necessities  to  be  over 
come.  And  so  of  this  quarrel  it  might  be  said, 
as  King  Henry  the  Fourth  observed  when  he 
saw  at  Dijon  the  mark  of  the  stab  in  the  leather 
doublet  of  the  Duke  Jean  sans  Peur :  "  Through 
that  rent  the  English  invaded  France." 

Within  a  week  after  President  Garfield  was  in 
augurated,  he  sent  to  the  Senate  his  nominations, 
and  at  the  head  of  the  list  was  the  name  of  Mr. 
Morton  for  the  French  mission. 

COURTESIES. 

The  address  of  Mr.  Morton  when  he  was  re 
ceived  by  President  Grevy  at  the  Palace  of  the 
Elysee  merits  an  extract.  General  Noyes  was 
the  retiring  Minister,  and  he  presented  Mr.  Mor 
ton,  who  said  among  other  things : 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  431 

"America  would  desire  not  only  to  express 
more  warmly,  in  this  year  of  the  Centennial  com 
memoration  of  our  ancient  alliance,  her  gratftude 
for  services  rendered  in  the  infancy  of  her  exist 
ence,  and  the  earnest  hope  that  this  long  unbroken 
amity  may  be  perpetuated,  but  also  to  greet  you 
as  friends  in  the  great  work  of  securing  popular 
freedom  under  the  control  of  established  law. 

"  This  sentiment  binds  the  two  leading  Repub 
lics  of  the  world.  Both  have  struggled  for  free 
government,  and  both  now  enjoy  what  was  defined 
by  our  martyred  Lincoln  as  'a  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people.'  America 
is  proud  to  occupy  with  France  the  foremost  rank 
in  the  grand  march  of  nations  towards  that  politi 
cal  emancipation  which  gives  every  man  a  voice 
in  his  country's  government. 

"  Believing  that  by  such  a  government  only  can 
a  nation  permanently  prosper,  if  it  be  my  fortune 
in  any  way  to  strengthen  this  common  bond  of 
sympathy  and  cement  the  friendship  of  a  hundred 
years,  I  feel  that  I  shall  have  fulfilled  the  trust 
reposed  in  me  by  the  government  whose  partial 
ity  enables  me  to  present  these  sentiments  to  the 
President." 

When  Mr.  Morton  left  the  Paris  mission  a 
banquet  was  tendered  him  by  the  Americans  resi 
dent  in  Paris,  and  the  orator  chosen  to  speak  for 
them  said:  "You  have  strengthened  the  bonds 
that  unite  the  two  republics,  and  you  have  secured 


43 2  LEVI    p-    MORTON. 

for  our  citizens  in  France  advantages  which  they 
did  not  previously  possess.  Your  home  has  been 
the  scene  of  a  most  generous  and  genial  hospi 
tality  ;  to  every  work  of  charity  you  have  been  a 
devoted  friend  and  supporter ;  you  have  extended 
to  every  citizen  of  our  country,  however  humble, 
assistance  and  protection  whenever  needed ;  and 
in  the  long  list  of  distinguished  men  who  have 
filled  the  eminent  position  of  American  Minister 
in  France  we  feel  there  is  not  one  who  has'been 
more  faithful  and  devoted  in  maintaining  national 
interests." 

M.  Floquet,  the  present  Prime  Minister  of 
France,  and  the  hero  of  the  recent  duel  with 
Boulanger,  speaking  at  this  farewell  banquet  to 
Mr.  Morton,  said: 

"  Pray  accept  without  scruple,  dear  Mr.  Morton, 
in  the  spirit  in  which  we  convey  them  to  you  and 
without  reserve  our  thanks  for  the  manner  in 
which  you  have  discharged  your  duties  among  us. 
All  who  have  been  brought  into  contact  with  and 
have  known  you  can  find  nothing  but  praise  for 
you,  and  will  ever  remain  grateful  to  you. 

"  Be  pleased  to  convey  to  Mrs.  Morton  our  re 
spectful  homage.  All  her  exquisite  qualities  ren 
dered  her  worthy  to  be  at  the  head  of  that  brilliant 
American  colony  which  constitutes  one  of  the 
most  graceful  ornaments  of  our  Parisian  society. 

"  Her  charms  of  manner  and  mind  blend  well 
with  the  courteous  gravity  of  your  temper  and 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  433 

habits,  and  you  have  made  of  your  house  one  of 
those  in  which  hospitality  was  of  the  most  amiable 
kind  and  eagerly  sought  after.  Be  sure  that 
among  us  neither  of  you  will  be  forgotten." 

Mr.  McLane,  the  new  Minister  there,  remarked: 
"  We  can  all  unite  in  cordial  and  generous  cour 
tesy  to  our  guest,  recognizing  the  fidelity  and 
ability  with  which  he  has  represented  our  country 
in  France." 

At  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  Mr.  Morton 
convened  the  Americans  of  Paris  in  the  American 
chapel,  and  called  the  pastor  to  the  chair.  Among 
the  Vice-Chairmen  were  General  McClellan  and 
John  Jacob  Astor.  The  Committee  on  Resolu 
tions  was  taken  from  both  sections  of  the  country 
and  from  both  political  parties,  comprising  Gov 
ernor  Hoffman,  of  New  York,  Senator  Randall 
Gibson,  Mr.  Benjamin  Wood,  among  others. 
Messrs.  Daniel  Dougherty,  John  Day,  and  Wil 
liam  Allen  Butler  made  addresses.  American 
cannon,  made  by  Mr.  Hotchkiss  in  Paris,  were 
fired  at  the  funeral  salute.  Mr.  Morton  said  at 
the  services : 

'"  The  death  of  General  Garfield  is  to  me  the 
loss  of  a  personal  friend.  My  first  acquaintance 
with  him  commenced  with  the  opening  of  the  ex 
tra  session  of  the  46th  Congress.  I  was  attracted 
by  his  genial,  cordial  manner,  and  soon  learned 
to  admire  his  qualities  of  head  and  heart.  During 
every  session  of  Congress  since  we  have  had 


434  LEVI    p'    MORTON. 

almost  daily  friendly  personal  intercourse.  I  can 
see  his  manly  form  before  me  now,  standing  on 
the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  with 
his  uplifted  arm ;  I  can  hear  his  strong,  sympa 
thetic  voice,  and  see  every  face  on  both  sides  of 
the  chamber  and  in  the  galleries  turned  to  catch 
every  word  that  falls  from  his  lips.  That  voice — 
the  voice  of  the  President  of  a  nation  of  fifty  mil 
lions  of  people — is  hushed  in  death,  and  has  no 
more  '  the  power  of  listening  senates  to  com 
mand.'  " 

During  all  of  Mr.  Morton's  life  he  has  been 
considerate  of  the  interests  and  privileges  of  the 
members  of  the  pres^.  It  might  be  supposed 
that  a  man  of  large  social  character  and  with 
abundant  great  operations  upon  his  mind  would 
overlook  the  competitions  of  the  reporters  for  the 
daily  news.  But  on  the  .contrary,  Mr.  Morton 
has  regarded  the  Press  as  an  institution  which 

o 

would  respond  to  a  courtesy,  and  take  its  tone 
from  that  society  which  was  most  patient  and 
forbearing  with  it.  Galignani,  in  Paris,  remarked, 
after  the  Garfield  obsequies  : 

"  Not  content  with  always  receiving  most  cour 
teously  at  the  Legation  the  representatives  of  the 
press,  and  replying  to  every  inquiry  for  eighty 
days  for  copies  of  the  official  bulletins  there,  which 
were  thq  most  reliable  sources  of  European  in 
formation,  and  daily  perused  by  millions  of  sym 
pathetic  readers,  the  Legation  of  Mr.  Morton  has 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  435 

anticipated  the  wishes  of  the  journals,  and  we  re 
turn  the  most  grateful  thanks  to  the  Minister  and 
his  Secretaries,  always  accomplished  and  cour 
teous.  Profound  respect  has  always  existed  for 
the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  great  Re 
public  ;  but  under  the  terrible  suspense  and 
anxieties  of  the  past  two  months  such  has  been 
the  courtesy  there  that  the  Minister  has  won  a 
grateful  and  personal  regard,  which  cannot  but 
strengthen  his  official  influence.  But  for  his  own 
persistent  declination,  by  the  accident  of  the  death 
of  General  Garfield,  Mr.  Morton  would  to-day  be 
the  occupant  of  the  White  House  as  President  of 
the  United  States." 

The  erection  at  the  city  of  Washington  of  a 
statue,  or  group,  commemorative  of  the  French 
alliance  with  America,  is  one  of  the  pleasant  re 
sults  of  that  series  of  interchanges  of  artistic 
presents  which  began  when  Mr.  Morton  was  the 
French  Minister. 

From  his  address  when  he  drove  the  rivet  in  the 
Bartholdi  Statue  of  Liberty,  we  take  this  extract: 

"The  names  of  Lafayette,  Rochambeau,  de 
Noailles  and  others  associated  with  this  new  evi 
dence  of  your  friendship,  have  been  household 
words  in  the  Republic  of  the  New  World  since 
their  ancestors  and  their  associates  gave  so  freely 
of  their  blood  and  treasure  to  secure  its  indepen 
dence.  I  should  add  to  this  roll  one,  if  I  may  be 
permitted  to  do  so  in  his  presence — the  name  of 


436  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

your  distinguished  chairman,  the  gifted  interpreter 
to  the  French  people  of  our  political  institutions 
and  the  national  constitution  (La-boulaye),  and 
now  to  this  roll  is  to  be  added  the  name  of 
August  Bartholdi." 

After  this  honorable  commission  had  returned 
to  their  native  land  from  their  memorable  mission 
of  international  friendship,  the  French  Govern 
ment  expressed  its  obligation  to  their  American 
host  by  an  artistic  memorial  of  their  visit.  The 
accompanying  letter  is  translated  as  follows : 

"  PARIS,  1 5th  of  April,  1888. 
"  My  Dear  Mr.  Morton  : 

"  I  am  officially  intrusted  by  the  French  delegation  present  at  the  inau 
guration  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  with  the  pleasant  duty  to  express  to  you 
their  compliments  and  thanks  for  your  kind  reception  of  the  French 
guests. 

"As  our  government  has  granted  us  the  disposal  of  some  objects  of  the 
Sevres  National  Manufactory  to  be  offered  to  our  American  friends,  Pres 
ident  Grevy  has  graciously  been  pleased  to  place  at  our  disposal  for  you 
the  lovely  bust  in  Sevres  porcelain  which  he  always  keeps  for  his  own 
presenting. 

"  This  object,  addressed  to  you,  will  reach  you  through  the  care  of  the 
French  Consul  in  New  York.  Our  present,  notwithstanding  the  real 
value  of  all  that  is  produced  by  the  celebrated  institution  of  Sevres,  is 
merely,  considering  all  you  have  done  for  us,  a  very  modest  token  of  our 
friendship,  but  we  beg  you  to  look  at  it  as  if  it  were  a  plain  '  Carte  de 
visite,"1  and  to  only  think  of  the  feelings  attached  to  it,  our  sincere  thoughts 
of  gratitude. 

"  We  would  request  you  also,  dear  sir,  to  be  so  kind  as  to  present  Mrs. 
Morton  with  the  homages  of  the  whole  delegation,  as  well  as  their  sincere 
thanks  for  her  gracious  welcome. 

"  To  the  foregoing  I  would  join  the  assurance  of  my  personal  devotion, 
and  remain,  dear  sir, 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

"  On  behalf  of  the  French  Delegation, 

"(Signed)  BARTHOLDI. 

"  To  the  Hon.  L.  P.  MORTON,  New  York." 


LEVI    P.    MORTON.  437 

WHAT   SHALL   THE    VERDICT    BE? 

The  limits  of  this  sketch  have  already  been  ex 
ceeded.  There  has  been  no  consultation  with 
Mr.  Morton  as  to  the  method  of  conveying  these 
facts  or  discriminating  among  them  for  publica 
tion.  The  general  result  of  the  study  is  a  citizen 
whose  family  has  been  long  in  the  land,  whose 
parents  and  their  predecessors  were  religious  and 
social  instructors  and  pastors  over  communities, 
whose  own  life  commenced  under  the  strain  of 
difficulties,  but  whose  temperament  and  manners 
were  from  the  beginning  those  of  one  who  was 
grateful  for  life  and  opportunity,  and  who,  without 
mental  anxiety,  with  faith  in  his  neighbors  and  his 
day,  grew  rather  than  pressed  onward,  letting 
every  year  have  its  full  due  of  time  and  services, 
until  he  was  beckoned  to  come  up  higher  by  his 
seniors  and  employers,  and,  finally,  when  he  was 
ready  for  an  independent  mercantile  existence, 
was  heartily  joined  by  partners  of  his  selection. 
When  he  put  aside  the  mercantile  branches  and 
took  up  the  business  of  banking  as  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  of 
commerce,  he  kept  his  faith  large,  his  charity 
fresh  and  his  hope  temperate  yet  strong. 

Entering  public  life  without  either  fear  or  am 
bition,  he  speedily  became  a  favorite  by  both  the 
democracy  and  the  dignity  of  his  intercourse, 
until  legislatures  and  administrations  held  him  in 
view. 


438  LEVI    P.    MORTON. 

In  defeat  he  was  uncomplaining,  and  in  success 
moderate. 

At  last  the  Vice-Presidency  is  extended  to  him 
at  the  hands  of  some  who  had  been  his  opponents 
but  could  never  find  in  him  an  enemy.  His  party 
accepted  the  choice  without  doubt  or  hesitation. 

Internal  harmony  having  been  thus  honorably 
secured,  the  great  army  of  loyal  citizens  who  have 
ever  been  true  to  the  Union  and  its  highest  inter 
ests  have  ample  reason  to  look  forward  to  assured 
victory. 

The  citizen  who  has  filled  with  honor  every  po 
sition  to  which  the  favor  of  his  political  associates 
has  called  him,  will,  *if  elected,  discharge  with 
fid-elity  the  high  duties  of  presiding  officer  of  the 
noblest  legislative  chamber  in  the  world. 

His  private  felicity  is  at  all  events  secured  and 
he  has  been  one  of  the  many  Americans  of  fair 
prosperity  who  have  kept  the  household  altar-fire 
of  philanthropy  ever  fed  by  new  gifts. 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS 
A  BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  NATION'S  HISTORY 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

FIRST  President  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia, 
on  the  22d  of  February,  1732.  He  was 
the  son  of  Augustine  Washington,  a  wealthy 
planter,  and  his  second  wife,  Mary  Ball.  John 
Washington,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  illus 
trious  subject  of  this  sketch,  emigrated  from  Eng 
land  and  settled  in  Virginia  about  1657.  George 
Washington's  father  died  when  he  was  in  his 
eleventh  year,  leaving  him  in  the  care  of  his 
mother,  a  woman  of  marked  strength  of  charac 
ter.  She  was  worthy  of  her  trust.  From  her  he 
acquired  that  self-restraint,  love  of  order,  and 
strict  regard  for  justice  and  fair  dealing,  which, 
with  his  inherent  probity  and  truthfulness,  formed 
the  basis  of  a  character  rarely  equaled  for  its 
simple,  yet  commanding  nobleness. 

Apart  from  his  mother's  training,  the  youthful 
Washington  received  only  the  ordinary  country- 

439 


440  &UR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

school  education  of  the  time,  never  having  attended 
college,  or  taken  instruction  in  the  ancient  lan 
guages.  He  had  no  inclination  for  any  but  the 
most  practical  studies,  but  in  these  he  was  remark 
ably  precocious.  When  barely  sixteen  Lord  Fair 
fax,  who  had  become  greatly  interested  in  the 
promising  lad,  engaged  him  to  survey  his  vast 
estates  lying  in  the  wilderness  west  of  the  Blue 
Ridge.  So  satisfactory  was  his  performance  of 
this  perilous  and  difficult  task,  that,  on  its  comple 
tion,  he  was  appointed  Public  Surveyor.  This 
office  he  held  for  three  years,  acquiring  consider 
able  pecuniary  benefits,  as  well  as  a  knowledge 
of  the  country,  which  was  of  value  to  him  in  his 
subsequent  military  career. 

When  only  nineteen,  Washington  was  appointed 
Military  Inspector  of  one  of  the  districts  into  which 
Virginia  was  then  divided.  In  November,  1753, 
he  was  sent  by  Governor  Dinwiddie  on  a  mission 
to  the  French  posts,  near  the  Ohio  River,  to  ascer 
tain  the  designs  of  France  iri  that  quarter.  It  was 
a  mission  of  hardship  and  peril,  performed  with 
rare  prudence,  sagacity,  and  resolution.  Its  bril 
liant  success  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortunes. 
"From  that  time,"  says  Irving,  "Washington  was 
the  rising  hope  of  Virginia." 

Of  Washington's  services  in  the  resulting  war, 
we  cannot  speak  in  detail.  An  unfortunate  mili 
tary  expedition  to  the  frontier  was  followed  by  a 
campaign  under  Braddock,  whom  he  accompanied 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

as  aid-de-camp,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  in  his 
march  against  Fort  Duquesne.  That  imprudent 
General,  scorning  the  advice  of  his  youthful  aid, 
met  disastrous  defeat  and  death.  In  the  battle, 
Washington's  coat  was  pierced  by  four  bullets. 
His  bravery  and  presence  of  mind  alone  saved 
the  army  from  total  destruction. 

Washington,  on  his  return,  was  appointed  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  all  the  troops  of  the  colony, 
then  numbering  about  two  thousand  men.  This 
was  in  1755,  when  he  was  but  little  more  than 
twenty-three  years  of  age.  Having  led  the  Vir 
ginia  troops  in  Forbes'  expedition  in  1758,  by 
which  Fort  Duquesne  was  captured,  he  resigned 
his  commission,  and,  in  January,  1759,  married 
Mrs.  Martha  Custis  (nee  Dandridge),  and  settled 
down  at  Mount  Vernon,  on  the  Potomac,  which 
estate  he  had  inherited  from  his  elder  brother 
Lawrence,  and  to  which  he  added  until  it  reached 
some  eight  thousand  acres. 

The  fifteen  years  following  his  marriage  were, 
to  Washington,  years  of  such  happiness  as  is 
rarely  accorded  to  mortals.  It  was  the  halcyon 
period  of  his  life.  His  home  was  the  centre  of  a 
generous  hospitality,  where  the  duties  of  a  busy 
planter  and  of  a  Judge  of  the  County  Court  were 
varied  by  rural  enjoyments  and  social  intercourse. 
He  managed  his  estates  with  prudence  and  econ 
omy.  He  slurred  over  nothing,  and  exhibited, 
even  then,  that  rigid  adherence  to  system  and 


442 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


accuracy  of  detail  which  subsequently  marked  his 
performance  of  his  public  duties. 

In  the  difficulties  which  presently  arose  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  American  Colonies,  Wash 
ington  sympathized  deeply  with  the  latter,  and 
took  an  earnest,  though  not  specially  prominent 
part  in  those  movements  which  finally  led  to  the 
War  of  Independence.  In  the  first  general  Con 
gress  of  the  Colonies,  which  met  in  Philadelphia, 
on  the  5th  of  September,  1774,  we  find  the  name 
of  Washington  among  the  Virginia  Delegates. 
As  to  the  part  he  took  in  that  Congress,  we  can 
only  judge  from  a  remark  made  by  Patrick  Henry, 
also  a  Delegate:  "Colonel  Washington,"  said  the 
great  orator,  "was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  man 
on  that  floor,  if  you  speak  of  solid  information  and 
sound  judgment." 

In  the  councils  of  his  native  province,  we  also 
get  glimpses  of  his  calm  and  dignified  presence. 
And  he  is  ever  on  the  side  of  the  Colonies — mod 
erate,  yet  resolute,  hopeful  of  an  amicable  adjust 
ment  of  difficulties,  yet  advocating  measures  look 
ing  to  a  final  appeal  to  arms. 

At  length  the  storm  broke.  The  Battle  of 
Lexington  called  the  whole  country  to  arms. 
While  in  the  East  the  rude  militia  of  New  Eng 
land  beleaguered  Boston  with  undisciplined  but 
stern  determination,  Congress,  in  May,  1775,  met 
a  second  time  in  Philadelphia.  A  Federal  Union 
was  formed  and  an  army  called  for.  As  chair- 


GE  OR  CE   WA  SH1NG  7  'ON. 


443 


man  of  the  various  Committees  on  Military  Affairs, 
Washington  drew  up  most  of  the  rules  and  regu 
lations  of  the  army,  and  devised  measures  for 
defense.  The  question  now  arose — By  whom 
was  the  army  to  be  led  ?  Hancock,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  was  ambitious  of  the  place.  Sectional 
jealousies  showed  themselves.  Happily,  how 
ever,  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  rising  in  his  seat, 
nominated  Washington.  The  election  was  by 
ballot,  and  unanimous.  Modestly  expressing  sin 
cere  doubts  as  to  his  capability,  Washington 
accepted  the  position  with  thanks,  but  refused  to 
receive  any  salary.  "  I  will  keep  an  exact  account 
of  my  expenses,"  he  said.  "These  I  doubt  not 
Congress  will  discharge.  That  is  all  I  desire." 

On  the  1 5th  of  June  he  received  his  commis 
sion.  Writing  a  tender  letter  to  his  wife,  he 
rapidly  ppepared  to  start  on  the  following  day 
to  the  army  before  Boston.  He  was  now  in  the 
full  vigor  of  manhood,  forty-three  years  of  age, 
tall,  stately,  of  powerful  frame  and  commanding 
presence.  "  As  he  sat  his  horse  with  manly 
grace,"  says  Irving,  "his  military  bearing  de 
lighted  every  eye,  and  wherever  he  went  the  air 
rung  with  acclamations." 

On  his  way  to  the  army,  Washington  met  the 
tidino-s  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  When  told 

o 

how  bravely  the  militia  had  acted,  a  load  seemed 
lifted  from  his  heart.  "The  liberties  of  the  coun 
try  are  safe !"  he  exclaimed.  On  the  2d  of  July 


444  OVR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

he  took  command  of  the  troops,  at  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  the  entire  force  then  numbering  about 
1 5,000  men.  It  was  not  until  March,  1776,  that 
the  siege  of  Boston  ended  in  the  withdrawal  of 
the  British  forces.  Washington's  admirable  con 
duct  of  this  siege  drew  forth  the  enthusiastic  ap 
plause  of  the  nation.  Congress  had  a  gold  medal 
struck,  bearing  the  effigy  of  Washington  as  the 
Deliverer  of  Boston. 

Hastening  to  defend  New  York  from  threat 
ened  attack,  Washington  there  received,  on  the 
9th  of  July,  1776,  a  copy  of  the  "Declaration  of 
Independence,"  adopted  by  Congress  five  days 
previously.  On  the  27th  of  the  following  month 
occurred  the  disastrous  battle  of  Lon^  Island,  the 

o 

misfortunes  of  which  were  retrieved,  however, 
by  Washington's  admirable  retreat,  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  achievements  of  the  war.  Again 
defeated  at  White  Plains,  he  was  compelled  to 
retire  across  New  Jersey.  On  the  7th  of  De 
cember  he  passed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Dela 
ware,  at  the  head  of  a  dispirited  army  of  less  than 
four  thousand  effective  men.  many  of  them  with 
out  shoes,  and  leaving  tracks  of  blood  in  the 
snow.  This  was  the  darkest  period  of  the  war. 
But  suddenly,  as  if  inspired,  Washington,  in  the 
midst  of  a  driving  storm,  on  Christmas  night  re- 
crossing  the  Delaware,  now  filled  with  floating 
ice,  gained  in  rapid  succession  the  brilliant  vic 
tories  of  Trenton  and  Princeton,  thus  changing 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


445 


the  entire  aspect  of  affairs.  Never  were  victories 
better  timed.  The  waning  hopes  of  the  people 
in  their  cause  and  their  commander  were  at  once 
restored  as  if  by  magic. 

It  is  not  possible,  in  this  necessarily  brief 
sketch,  to  give  the  details  of  the  agonizing  strug 
gle  in  which  Washington  and  his  little  army  were 
now  involved.  Superior  numbers  and  equip 
ments  often  inflicted  upon  him  disasters  which 
would  have  crushed  a  less  resolute  spirit. 
Cheered,  however,  by  occasional  glimpses  of  vic 
tory,  and  wisely  taking  advantage  of  what  his 
troops  learned  in  hardship  and  defeat,  he  was  at 
length  enabled,  by  one  sagacious  and  deeply 
planned  movement,  to  bring  the  war  virtually  to 
a  close  in  the  capture  of  the  British  army  of 
7,000  men,  under  Cornwallis,  at  Yorktown,  on 
the  1 9th  of  October,  1781. 

The  tidings  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis 
filled  the  country  with  joy.  The  lull  in  the  ac 
tivity  of  both  Congress  and  the  people  was  not 
viewed  with  favor  by  Washington.  It  was  a 
period  of  peril.  Idleness  in  the  army  fostered 
discontents  there,  which  at  one  time  threatened 
the  gravest  mischief.  It  was  only  by  the  utmost 
exertion  that  Washington  induced  the  malcon 
tents  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  those  who  were  at 
tempting,  as  he  alleged,  "  to  open  the  flood-gates 
of  civil  discord,  and  deluge  our  rising  empire 
with  blood." 


OUR  DORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

On  September  3d,  1 783,  a  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed  at  Paris,  by  which  the  complete  indepen 
dence  of  the  United  States  was  secured.  On  the 
23d  of  December  following,  Washington  for 
mally  resigned  his  command.  The  very  next 
morning  he  hastened  to  his  beloved  Mount  Ver- 
non,  arriving  there  that  evening,  in  time  to  enjoy 
the  festivities  which  there  greeted  him. 

Washington  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy 
his  retirement.  Indeed,  his  solicitude  for  the  per 
petuity  of  the  political  fabric  he  had  helped  to 
raise  he  could  not  have  shaken  off  if  he  would. 
Unconsciously,  it  might  have  been,  by  his  letters 
to  his  old  friends  still  in  public  life,  he  continued 
to  exercise  a  powerful  influence  on  national  affairs. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  propose  a  remodeling 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  which  were  now 
acknowledged  to  be  insufficient  for  their  purpose. 
At  length,  a  'convention  of  delegates  from  the 
several  States,  to  form  a  new  Constitution,  met  at 
Philadelphia,  in  May,  1787.  Washington  pre 
sided  over  its  session,  which  was  long  and  stormy. 
After  four  months  of  deliberation  was  formed 
that  Constitution  under  which,  with  some  subse 
quent  amendments,  we  now  live. 

When  the  new  Constitution  was  finally  ratified, 
Washington  was  called  to  the  Presidency  by  the 
unanimous  voice  of  the  people.  In  April,  1 789, 
he  set  out  from  Mount  Vernon  for  New  York, 
then  the  seat  of  Government,  to  be  inaugurated. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

"  His  progress,"  says  Irving,  "  was  a  continuous 
ovation.  The  ringing  of  bells  and  the  roaring  of 
cannon  proclaimed  his  course.  Old  and  young, 
women  and  children,  thronged  the  highways  to 
bless  and  welcome  him."  His  inauguration  took 
place  April  3Oth,  1 789,  before  an  immense  multi 
tude. 

The  eight  years  of  Washington's  Administra 
tion  were  years  of  trouble  and  difficulty.  The 
two  parties  which  had  sprung  up — the  Federalist 
and  the  Republican — were  greatly  embittered 
against  each  other,  each  charging  the  other  with 
the  most  unpatriotic  designs.  No  other  man  than 
Washington  could  have  carried  the  country  safely 
through  so  perilous  a  period.  His  prudent,  firm, 
yet  conciliatory  spirit,  aided  by  the  love  and  ven 
eration  with  which  the  people  regarded  him,  kept 
down  insurrection  and  silenced  discontent. 

That  he  passed  through  this  trying  period 
safely  cannot  but  be  a  matter  of  astonishment. 
The  angry  partisan  contests,  to  which  we  have 
referred,  were  of  themselves  sufficient  to  dis 
hearten  any  common  man.  Even  Washington  was 
distrustful  of  the  event,  so  fiercely  were  the  par 
tisans  of  both  parties  enlisted — the  Federalists 
clamoring  for  a  stronger  government,  the  Repub 
licans  for  additional  checks  on  the  power  already 
intrusted  to  the  Executive.  Besides,  the  Revolu 
tion  then  raging  in  France  became  a  source  of 
contention.  The  Federalists  sided  with  England. 


FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

who  was  bent  on  crushing  that  Revolution;  the 
Republicans,  on  the  other  hand,  sympathized 
deeply  with  the  French  people :  so  that  between 
them  both,  it  was  with  extreme  difficulty  that  the 
President  could  prevent  our  young  Republic,  bur 
dened  with  debt,  her  people  groaning  under  taxes 
necessarily  heavy,  and  with  finances,  commerce, 
and  the  industrial  arts  in  a  condition  of  chaos, 
from  being  dragged  into  a  fresh  war  with  either 
France  or  England. 

But,  before  retiring  from  the  Presidency,  Wash 
ington  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  many  of  the 
difficulties  from  which  he  had  apprehended  so  much, 
placed  in  a  fair  way  of  final  adjustment.  A  finan 
cial  system  was  developed  which  lightened  the 
burden  of  public  debt  and  revived  the  drooping 
energies  of  the  people.  The  country  progressed 
rapidly.  Immigrants  flocked  to  our  shores,  and 
the  regions  west  of  the  Alleghanies  began  to  fill 
up.  New  States  claimed  admission  and  were 
received  into  the  Union — Vermont,  in  1791 ;  Ken 
tucky,  in  1792  ;  and  Tennessee,  in  1796  ;  so  that, 
before  the  close  of  Washington's  second  term,  the 
original  thirteen  States  had  increased  to  sixteen. 

Having  served  two  Presidential  terms,  Wash 
ington,  declining  another  election,  returned  once 
more  to  Mount  Vernon,  "  that  haven  of  repose  to 
which  he  had  so  often  turned  a  wistful  eye,"  bear 
ing  with  him  the  love  and  gratitude  of  his  country 
men,  to  whom,  in  his  memorable  "  Farewell  Ad 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  449 

dress/'  he  bequeathed  a  legacy  of  practical  politi 
cal  wisdom  which  it  will  be  well  for  them  to 
remember  and  profit  by.  In  this  immortal  docu 
ment  he  insisted  that  the  union  of  the  States  was 
"a  main  pillar"  in  the  real  independence  of  the 
people.  He  also  entreated  them  to  "steer  clear 
of  any  permanent  alliances  with  any  portion  of 
the  foreign  world." 

At  Mount  Vernon  Washington  found  constant 
occupation  in  the  supervision  of  his  various 
estates.  It  was  while  taking  his  usual  round  on 
horseback  to  look  after  his  farms,  that,  on  the  1 2th 
of  December,  1799,  he  encountered  a  cold,  winter 
storm.  He  reached  home  chill  and  damp.  The 
next  day  he  had  a  sore  throat,  with  some  hoarse 
ness.  By  the  morning  of  the  i4th  he  could 
scarcely  swallow.  "  I  find  I  am  going,"  said  he  to 
a  friend.  "  I  believed  from  the  first  that  the 
attack  would  be  fatal."  That  night,  between  ten 
and  eleven,  he  expired,  without  a  struggle  or  a 
sigh,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  his  disease 
being  acute  laryngitis.  Three  days  afterward 
his  remains  were  deposited  in  the  family  tombs  at 
Mount  Vernon,  where  they  still  repose. 

Washington  left  a  reputation  on  which  there  is 
no  stain.  "  His  character,"  says  Irving,  "  possessed 
fewer  inequalities,  and  a  rarer  union  of  virtues 
than  perhaps  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  one  man. 
*  *  *  It  seems  as  if  Providence  had  endowed 

him  in  a  pre-eminent  degree  with  the  qualities 
29 


450 


OU*R  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


requisite  to  fit  him  for  the  high  destiny  he  was 
called  upon  to  fulfill." 

In  stature  Washington  was  six  feet  two  inches 
in  height,  well  proportioned,  and  firmly  built. 
His  hair  was  brown,  his  eyes  blue  and  set  far 
apart.  From  boyhood  he  was  famous  for  great 
strength  and  agility.  Jefferson  pronounced  him 
"  the  best  horseman  of  his  age,  and  the  most  grace 
ful  figure  that  could  be  seen  on  horseback."  He 
was  scrupulously  neat,  gentlemanly,  and  punctual, 
and  always  dignified  and  reserved. 

In  the  resolution  passed  upon  learning  of  his 
death,  the^  National  House  of  Representatives 
described  him  for  the  first  time  in  that  well-known 
phrase,  "  First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen," — a  tribute  which 
succeding  generations  have  continued  to  bestow 
upon  Washington  without  question  or  doubt.  By 
common  consent  to  him  is  accorded  as  pre-emi 
nently  appropriate  the  title,  "  Pater  Patriae," — the 
"Father  of  his  Country." 

Of  Washington,  Lord  Brougham  says :  "  It  will 
be  the  duty  of  the  historian  and  the  sage,  in  all 
ages,  to  omit  no  occasion  of  commemorating  this 
illustrious  man  ;  and  until  time  shall  be  no  more 
will  a  test  of  the  progress  our  race  has  made  in 
wisdom  and  virtue  be  derived  from  the  veneration 
paki  to  the  immortal  name  of  Washington." 


JOHN  ADAMS.  451 


JOHN  ADAMS, 

SECOND  President  of  the   United   States* 
was  born  at  Braintree,  now  Quincy,  Mass., 
October  i9th,  1 735.    He  was  the  eldest  son 
of  John  Adams,  a  farmer,  and  Susanna  Boylston. 
Graduating  from  Harvard  in  1755,  he  studied  law, 
defraying  his  expenses  by  teaching.    In  1764,  hav 
ing  meanwhile  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  mar 
ried  Miss  Abigail  Smith,  a  lady  whose  energy  of 
character  contributed  largely  to  his  subsequent 
advancement. 

As  early  as  1761,  we  find  young  Adams  look 
ing  forward,  with  prophetic  vision,  to  American 
Independence.  When  the  memorable  Stamp  Act 
was  passed  in  1 765,  he  joined  heart  and  soul  in 
opposition  to  it.  A  series  of  resolutions  which  he 
drew  up  against  it  and  presented  to  the  citizens  of 
Braintree  was  adopted  also  by  more  than  forty 
other  towns  in  the  Province.  He  took  the  ad 
vanced  grounds  that  it  was  absolutely  void — 
Parliament  having  no  right  to  tax  the  Colonies. 

In  1 768  he  removed  to  Boston.  The  rise  of  the 
young  lawyer  was  now  rapid,  and  he  was  the  lead 
ing  man  in  many  prominent  cases.  When,  in  Sep 
tember,  1774,  the  first  Colonial  Congress  met,  at 
Philadelphia,  Adams  was  one  of  the  five  Delegates 
from  Massachusetts.  In  that  Congress  he  took 
a  prominent  part  He  it  was  who,  on  the  6th  of 


452  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

May,    1776,   boldly  advanced  upon    the  path   ol 
Independence,  by  moving  "  the  adoption  of  such 
measures  as  would  best  conduce  to  the  happiness 
and   safety  of  the   American   people."      It   was 
Adams,  who,  a  month  later,  seconded  the  resolu 
tion  of  Lee,  of  Virginia,  "  that  these  United  States 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  independent."     It 
was  he  who  uttered  the  famous  words,  "  Sink  or 
swim,   live   or   die,   survive   or   perish,  with  my 
country  is  my  unalterable  determination."     He, 
too,  it  was,  who,  with  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Sher 
man,  and  Livingston,  drew  up  that  famous  "  Dec 
laration  of  Independence,"  which,  adopted  by  Con 
gress  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  decided  a  question, 
"  greater,  perhaps,  than  ever  was  or  will  be  de 
cided   anywhere."      During   all   these    years    of 
engrossing  public  duty  he  produced  many  able 
essays  on  the  rights  of  the  Colonies.     These  ap 
peared  in   the  leading  journals  of  the  day  and 
exerted  wide  influence.     The  motion  to  prepare 
a  Declaration  of  Independence  was  opposed  by  a 
strong  party,  to  the  champion  of  which  Adams 
made  reply  and  Jefferson  said,  "John  Adams  was 
the  ablest  advocate  and  champion  of  indepen 
dence  on  the  floor  of  the  House." 

Writing  to  his  wife  on  July  3d,  1776,  and  refer 
ring  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  day 
adopted,  he  forecast  the  manner  of  that  day's 
celebration  by  bonfires,  fireworks,  etc.,  as  "  the 
anniversary  festival."  During  all  the  years 


JOHN  ADAMS. 

of  the  war  he  was  a  most  zealous  worker  and  val 
ued  counselor.  After  its  years  of  gloom  and 
trial,  on  the  2ist  of  January,  1783,  he  assisted  in 
the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  by  which 
Great  Britain  acknowledged  the  complete  inde 
pendence  of  the  United  States.  On  the  previous 
October,  he  had  achieved  what  he  ever  regarded 
as  the  greatest  success  of  his  life — the  formation 
of  a  treaty  of  peace  and  alliance  with  Holland, 
which  had  a  most  important  bearing  on  the  nego 
tiations  leading  to  the  final  adjustment  with  Eng 
land. 

He  was  United  States  Minister  to  England  from 
1785  to  1788,  and  Vice-President  during  both  the 
terms  of  Washington.  During  these  years,  as 
presiding  officer  of  the  Senate,  he  gave  no  less 
than  twenty  casting  votes,  all  of  them  on  ques 
tions  of  great  importance,  and  all  supporting  the 
policy  of  the  President.  Mr.  Adams  was  himself 
inaugurated  President  on  the  4th  of  March,  1797, 
having  been  elected  over  Jefferson  by  a  small 
majority.  Thomas  Pinckney  was  nominated  for 
the  Vice-Presidency  with  him,  they  representing 
the  Federal  party,  but  in  the  Electoral  College 
Thomas  Jefferson  received  the  choice  and  became 
Vice-President.  He  retained  as  his  Cabinet  the 
officers  previously  chosen  by  Washington. 

He  came  into  office  at  a  critical  period.  The 
conduct  of  the  French  Directory,  in  refusing  to 
receive  our  ambassadprs,  and  in  trying  to  injure 


454 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


our  commerce  by  unjust  decrees,  excited  intense 
ill-feeling,  and  finally  led  to  what  is  known  as  "the 
Quasi  War  "  with  France.  Congress  now  passed 
the  so-called  "Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,"  by  which 
extraordinary  and,  it  is  alleged,  unconstitutional 
powers  were  conferred  upon  the  President. 
Though  the  apprehended  war  was  averted,  the 
odium  of  these  laws  effectually  destroyed  the  pop 
ularity  of  Adams,  who,  on  running  for  a  second 
term,  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  representing 
the  Republicans,  who  were  the  Democratic  party 
of  that  day.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1801,  he  re 
tired  to  private  life  on  his  farm  near  Quincy.  His 
course  as  President  had  brought  upon  him  the 
reproaches  of  both  parties,  and  his  days  were 
ended  in  comparative  obscurity  and  neglect.  He 
lived  to  see  his  son,  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  the 
Presidential  chair. 

By  a  singular  coincidence,  the  death  of  Mr. 
Adams  and  that  of  his  old  political  rival,  Jefferson, 
took  place  on  the  same  day,  and  almost  at  the 
same  hour.  Stranger  still,  it  was  on  July  the  4th, 
1826,  whilst  bells  were  ringing  and  cannon  roar 
ing  to  celebrate  the  fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  their  own  immortal 
production,  that  these  two  men  passed  away. 
Mr.  Adams  was  asked  if  he  knew  what  day  it  was. 
"Oh  lyes!"  he  exclaimed,  "It  is  the  Fourth  of 
July.  God  bless  it!  God  bless  you  all !  It  is  a 
great  and  glorious  day!"  and  soon  after  quietly 
expired,  in  the  ninety-first  year  of  his  age. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  455 

Mr.  Adams  possessed  a  vigorous  and  polished 
intellect,  and  was  one  of  the  most  upright  of  men. 
His  character  was  one  to  command  respect,  rather 
than  to  win  affection.  There  was  a  certain  lack 
of  warmth  in  his  stately  courtesy  which  seemed 
to  forbid  approach.  Yet  nobody,  we  are  told, 
could  know  him  intimately  without  admiring  the 
simplicity  and  truth  which  shone  in  all  his  actions. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  who  succeeded 
Adams  as  President,  was  born  at  Shadwell, 
Albermarle  County,  Va.,  April  2d,  1743. 
Peter  Jefferson,  his  father,  was  a  man  of  great 
force  of  character  and  of  remarkably  powerful 
physique.  His  mother,  Jane  Randolph,  was  from 
a  most  respectable  English  family.  He  was  the 
eldest  of  eight  children.  He  became  a  classical 
student  when  a  mere  boy,  and  entered  college  in 
an  advanced  class  when  but  seventeen  years  of 
age.  Having  passed  through  college,  he  studied 
law  under  Judge  Wythe,  and  in  1767  commenced 
practice.  In  1769,  he  was  elected  to  the  Virginia 
Legislature.  Three  years  later,  he  married  Mrs. 
Martha  Skelton,  a  rich,  handsome,  and  accom 
plished  young  widow,  with  whom  he  went  to  reside 
in  his  new  mansion  at  Monticello,  near  to  the  spot 
where  he  was  born.  His  practice  at  the  bar  grew 


456  OUR  DORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

rapidly  and  became  very  lucrative,  and  he  early 
engaged  in  the  political  affairs-of  his  own  State. 
For  years  the  breach  between  England  and  her 
Colonies  had  been  rapidly  widening.  Jefferson 
earnestly  advocated  the  right  of  the  latter  to  local 
self-government,  and  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  the 
subject  which  attracted  miach  attention  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  By  the  spring  of  1775  the 
Colonies  were  in  revolt.  We  now  find  Jefferson 
in  the  Continental  Congress — the  youngest  mem 
ber  save  one.  His  arrival  had  been  anxiously 
awaited.  He  had  the  reputation  "  of  a  matchless 
pen."  Though  silent  on  the  floor,  in  committee 
"he  was  prompt,  frank,  explicit,  and  decisive," 
Early  in  June,  1776,  a  committee,  with  Jefferson 
as  chairman,  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  "  Decla 
ration  of  Independence."  Unanimously  urged  by 
his  associates  to  write  it,  he  did  so,  Franklin  and 
Adams,  only,  making  a  few  verbal  alterations. 
Jefferson  has  been  charged  with  plagiarism  in  the 
composition  of  this  ever-memorable  paper.  Vol 
umes  have  been  written  on  the  subject;  but  those 
who  have  investigated  the  closest,  declare  that 
the  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  from  which  he  was 
charged  with  plagiarism,  was  not  then  in  existence. 
Jefferson  distinctly  denies  having  seen  it.  Prob 
ably,  in  preparing  it,  he  used  many  of  the  popular 
phrases  of  the  time  ;  and  hence  it  was  that  it 
seized  so  quickly  and  so  irresistibly  upon  the 
public  heart.  It  was  the  crystallized  expression 


THOMAS  JEFFERSOtf. 

of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Edward  Everett  pro 
nounced  this  Declaration  "  equal  to  anything  ever 
born  on  parchment  or  expressed  in  the  visible 
signs  of  thought."  Bancroft  declares,  "  The  heart 
of  Jefferson  in  writing  it,  and  of  Congress  in 
adopting  it,  beat  for  all  humanity." 

Chosen  a  second  time  to  Congress,  Jefferson 
declined  the  appointment,  in  order  that  he  might 
labor  in  re-organizing  Virginia.  He  therefore 
accepted  a  seat  in  the  Legislature,  where  he 
zealously  applied  himself  to  revising  the  funda 
mental  laws  of  the  State.  The  abolition  of  primo 
geniture  and  the  Church  establishment  was  the 
result  of  his  labors,  and  he  was  justly  proud  of 
it.  No  more  important  advance  could  have  been 
made.  It  was  a  step  from  middle-age  darkness 
into  the  broad  light  of  modern  civilization. 

In  1778,  Jefferson  procured  the  passage  of  a 
law  prohibiting  the  further  importation  of  slaves. 
The  following  year  he  was  elected  Governor, 
succeeding  Patrick  Henry  in  this  honorable  posi 
tion,  and  at  the  close  of  his  official  term  he  again 
sought  the  retirement  of  Monticello.  In  1782, 
shortly  after  the  death  of  his  beloved  wife,  he  was 
summoned  to  act  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  to 
negotiate  peace  with  England.  He  was  not 
required  to  sail,  however ;  but,  taking  a  seat  in 
Congress,  during  the  winter  of  1783,  he,  who  had 
drawn  up  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was 
the  first  to  officially  announce  its  final  triumph. 


458  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  he  secured  the. 
adoption  of  our  present  admirable  system  of  coin 
age.  As  chairman  of  a  committee  to  draft  rules 
for  the  government  of  our  Northwest  Territory 
he  endeavored,  but  without  success,  to  secure  the 
prohibition  of  slavery  therefrom  forever.  In  May, 
1 784,  he  was  sent  to  Europe,  to  assist  Adams  and 
Franklin  in  negotiating  treaties  of  commerce  with 
foreign  nations.  Returning  home  in  1789,  he 
received  from  Washington  the  appointment  of 
Secretary  of  State,  which  office  he  resigned  in  1 793. 
He  withdrew,  says  Marshall,  "  at  a  time  when  he 
stood  particularly  high  in  the  esteem  of  his  coun 
trymen."  His  friendship  for  France,  and  his  dis 
like  of  England ;  his  warm  opposition  to  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  central  power  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  his  earnest  advocacy  of  every  mea 
sure  tending  to  enlarge  popular  freedom,  had  won 
for  him  a  large  following,  and  he  now  stood  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  the  great  and  growing 
Anti-federal  party. 

Washington  declining  a  third  term,  Adams,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  succeeded  him,  Jefferson 
becoming  Vice-President.  At  the  next  election, 
Jefferson  and  Burr,  the  Republican  candidates, 
stood  highest  on  the  list.  By  the  election  law  of 
that  period,  he  who  had  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  was  to  be  President,  while  the  Vice-Presi 
dency  fell  to  the  next  highest  candidate.  Jeffer 
son  and  Burr  having  an  equal  number  of  votes, 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON-.  459 

it  remained  for  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
decide  which  should  be  President.  After  a  long 
and  heated  canvass,  Jefferson  was  chosen  on  the 
thirty-sixth  ballot.  He  was  inaugurated,  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1801,  »at  Washington,  whither  the) 
Capitol  had  been  removed  a  few  months  pre 
viously.  In  1804,  he  was  re-elected  by  an  over 
whelming  majority.  At  the  close  of  his  second 
term,  he  retired  once  more  to  the  quiet  of  Monti- 
cello,  v 

The  most  important  public  measure  of  Jeffer 
son's  Administration,  to  the  success  of  which  he 
directed  his  strongest  endeavors,  was  the  pur 
chase  from  France,  for  the  insignificant  sum  of 
$15,000,000,  of  the  immense  Territory  of  Louisi 
ana.  It  was  during  his  Administration,  too,  that 
the  conspiracy  of  Burr  was  discovered,  and 
thwarted  by  the  prompt  and  decisive  action  of  the 
President.  Burr's  scheme  was  a  mad  one — to 
break  up  the  Union,  and  erect  a  new  empire,  with 
Mexico  as  its  seat.  Jefferson  is  regarded  as  hav 
ing  initiated  the  custom  of  removing  incumbents 
from  office  on  political  grounds  alone. 

From  the  retirement  into  which  he  withdrew  at 
the  end  of  his  second  term,  Jefferson  never 
emerged.  His  time  was  actively  employed  in 
the  management  of  his  property  and  in  his  exten 
sive  correspondence.  In  establishing  a  Univer 
sity  at  Charlottesville,  Jefferson  took  a  deep  in 
terest,  devoting  to  it  much  of  his  time  and  means, 


460  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

He  was  proud  of  his  work,  and  directed  that  the 
words  "  Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia " 
should  be  inscribed  upon  his  tomb.  He  died, 
shortly  after  mid-day,  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1826,  a  few  hours  before  his  venerable  friend  and 
compatriot,  Adams. 

Jefferson  was  the  very  embodiment  of  the 
democracy  he  sought  to  make  the  distinctive  feat 
ure  of  his  party.  All  titles  were  distasteful  to 
him,  even  the  prefix  Mr.  His  garb  and  manners 
were  such  that  the  humblest  farmer  was  at  home 
in  his  society.  He  declared  that  in  view  of  the 
existence  of  slavery  he  "  trembled  for  his  coun 
try  when  he  remembered  that  God  is  just."  -He 
was  of  splendid  physique,  being  six  feet  two  and 
a  half  inches  in  height,  but  well  built  and  sinewy. 
His  hair  was  of  a  reddish  brown,  his  countenance 
ruddy,  his  eyes  light  hazel.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
were  wealthy,  but  they  spent  freely  and  died  in 
solvent,  leaving  but  one  daughter. 

His  moral  character  was  of  the  highest  order. 
Profanity  he  could  not  endure,  either  in  himself 
or  others.  He  never  touched  cards,  or  strong 
drink  in  any  form.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
generous  of  men,  lavishly  hospitable,  and  in 
everything  a  thorough  gentleman.  Gifted  with 
an  intellect  far  above  the  average,  he  had  added 
to  it  a  surprising  culture,  which  ranked  him 
among  our  most  accomplished  scholars.  To 
his  extended  karning,  to  his  ardent  love  of  lib- 


JAMES  MADISON. 

erty,  and  to  his  broad  and  tolerant  views,  is  due 
much,  very  much,  of  whatever  is  admirable  in  our 
institutions.  In  them  we  discern  everywhere 
traces  of  his  master  spirit. 


JAMES  MADISON. 

WHEN  Mr.  Jefferson  retired  from  the 
Presidency,  the  country  was  almost  on 
the  verge  of  war  with  Great  Britain. 
Disputes  had  arisen  in  regard  to  certain  restric 
tions  laid  by  England  upon  our  commerce.  A 
hot  discussion  also  came  up  about  the  right 
claimed  and  exercised  by  the  commanders  of 
English  war-vessels,  of  searching  American  ships 
and  of  taking  from  them  such  seamen  as  they 
might  choose  to  consider  natives  of  Great  Britain. 
Many  and  terrible  wrongs  had  been  perpetrated 
in  the  exercise  of  this  alleged  right.  Hundreds 
of  American  citizens  had  been  ruthlessly  forced 
into  the  British  service. 

It  was  when  the  public  mind  was  agitated  by 
such  outrages,  that  James  Madison,  the  fourth 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  inaugurated. 
When  he  took  his  seat,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1809,  he  lacked  but  a  few  days  of  being  fifty-eight 
years  of  age,  having  been  born  on  the  i5th  of 
March,  1751.  His  father  was  Colonel  James 
Madison,  his  mother  Nellie  Conway.  He  gradu- 


462  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

ated  at  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey,  in  1771, 
after  which  he  studied  law. 

In  his  twenty-sixth  year  he  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution 
of  Virginia;  in  1780  had  been  elected  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  in  which  he  at  once  took  a 
commanding  position  ;  had  subsequently  entered 
the  Virginia  Legislature,  where  he  co-operated 
with  his  friend  and  neighbor,  Jefferson,  in  the  ab 
rogation  of  entail  and  primogeniture,  and  in  the 
establishment  of  religious  freedom ;  had  drawn 
up  the  call  in  answer  to  which  the  Convention  to 
Draught  a  Constitution  for  the  United  States  met 
at  Philadelphia  in  1787,  and  had  been  one  of  the 
most  active  members  of  that  memorable  assem 
blage  in  reconciling  the  discordant  elements  of 
which  it  was  composed.  He  had  also  labored 
earnestly  to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  new  Con 
stitution  by  his  native  State ;  had  afterward  en 
tered  Congress ;  and  when  Jefferson  became 
President,  in  March,  1801,  had  been  by  him  ap 
pointed  Secretary  of  State,  a  post  he  had  declined 
when  it  was  vacated  by  Jefferson  in  December, 
1793.  In  this  important  post  for  eight  years,  he 
won  the  highest  esteem  and  confidence  of  the 
nation.  Having  been  nominated  by  the  Repub 
licans,  he  was  in  1808  elected  to  the  Presidency, 
receiving  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  electoral 
votes,  while  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  the  Federal  can 
didate,  received  but  forty-seven. 


JAMES  MADISON.  .  ^  - 

In  1 794,  he  married  Mrs.  Dorothy  Todd,  a 
young  widow  lady,  whose  bright  intelligence  and 
fascinating  manners  were  to  gain  her  celebrity  as 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  who  ever 
presided  over  the  domestic  arrangements  of  the 
Presidential  Mansion. 

Of  a  weak  and  delicate  constitution,  and  with 
the  habits  of  a  student,  Mr.  Madison  would  have 
preferred  peace  to  war.  But  even  he  lost  patience 
at  the  insults  heaped  upon  the  young  Republic  by 
it  ancient  mother ;  and  when,  at  length,  on  the 
1 8th  of  June,  1812,  Congress  declared  war  against 
Great  Britain,  he  gave  the  declaration  his  official 
sanction,  and  took  active  steps  to  enforce  it. 
Though  disasters  in  the  early  part  of  the  war 
greatly  strengthened  the  Federal  party,  who  were 
bitterly  opposed  to  hostilities,  die  ensuing  Presi 
dential  canvass  resulted  in  the  re-election  of  Mr. 
Madison  by  a  large  majority,  his  competitor,  De 
Witt  Clinton,  receiving  eighty-nine  electoral  votes 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  for  Madison. 
On  the  1 2th  of  August,  1814,  a  British  army  took 
Washington,  the  President  himself  narrowly  esca 
ping  capture.  The  Presidential  Mansion,  the  Cap 
itol,  and  all  the  public  buildings  were  wantonly- 
burned.  The  1 4th  of  December  following,  a  treaty 
of  peace  was  signed  at  Ghent,  in  which,  however, 
England  did  not  relinquish  her  claim  to  the  right 
of  search.  But  as  she  has  not  since  attempted  to 
exercise  it,  the  question  may  be  regarded  as  hav 
ing  been  finally  settled  by  the  contest. 


464  OUR  DORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  Madison's  second 
term  having  expired,  he  withdrew  to  private  life 
at  his  paternal  home  of  Montpelier,  Orange  County, 
Va.  During  his  administration,  two  new  States 
had  been  added  to  the  Union,  making  the  total 
number  at  this  period  nineteen.  The  first  to 
claim  admittance  was  Louisiana,  in  1812.  It  was 
formed  out  of  the  Southern  portion  of  the  vast 
Territory,  purchased,  during  the  Presidency  of 
Jefferson,  from  France.  Indiana — the  second 
State — was  admitted  in  1816. 

After  his  retirement  from  office,  Mr.  Madison 
passed  nearly  a  score  of  quiet  years  at  Montpe 
lier.  With  Jefferson,  who  was  a  not  very  distant 
neighbor,  he  co-operated  in  placing  the  Charlottes- 
ville  University  upon  a  substantial  foundation.  In 
1829,  he  left  his  privacy  to  take  part  in  the  Con 
vention  which  met  at  Richmond  to  revise  the 
Constitution  of  the  State.  His  death  took  place 
on  the  28th  of  June,  1836,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year 
of  his  age. 


JAMES   MONROE. 

ADISON'S  successor  in  the  Presidential 
chair  was  James  Monroe,  whose  Admin- 
•^  -*•  •  istration  has  been  called  "the  Era  of 
Good  Feeling,"  from  the  temporary  subsidence  at 
that  time  of  party  strife.  He  was  a  son  of  Sperice 
Monroe,  a  planter.  He  was  born  on  his  father's 


M 


JAMES  MONROE. 

plantation  in  Westmoreland  County,  Va.,  on  the 
28th  of  April,  1758.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
entered  William  and  Mary  College;  but  when, 
two  years  later,  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
called  the  Colonies  to  arms,  the  young  collegian, 
dropping  his  books,  girded  on  his  sword,  and  en 
tered  the  service  of  his  country.  Commissioned 
a  lieutenant,  he  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Harlem 
Heights  and  White  Plains.  In  the  attack  on 
Trenton  he  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder,  and  for 
his  bravery  promoted  to  a  captaincy.  Subse 
quently  he  was  attached  to  the  staff  of  Lord  Ster 
ling  with  the  rank  of  major,  and  fought  by  the 
side  of  Lafayette,  when  that  officer  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  and  also  participated 
in  the  battles  of  Germantown  and  Monmouth. 
He  was  afterward  given  a  colonel's  commission, 
but,  being  unable  to  recruit  a  regiment,  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Jefferson,  then  Gover 
nor  of  Virginia. 

When  only  about  twenty-three  years  old,  he 
was  elected  to  the  Virginia  Legislature.  The  next 
year  he  was  sent  to  Congress.  On  the  expiration 
of  his  term,  having  meanwhile  married,  in  New 
York,  Miss  Kortright,  a  young  lady  of  great 
intelligence  and  rare  personal  attractions,  he  re 
turned  to  Fredericksburg,  and  commenced  prac 
tice  as  a  lawyer.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Anti-Federal  or  Republican  party,  being  thor 
oughly  democratic  in  his  ideas,  as  was  his  eminent 
3° 


466 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


preceptor,  Jefferson.  In  1 789,  he  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate.  In  1 794,  he  was  ap 
pointed  minister-plenipotentiary  to  France,  but 
recalled  from  his  mission  two  years  later  because 
of  his  routspoken  sympathies  with  the  republicans 
of  that  country. 

Shortly  after  his  return,  Monroe  was  elected 
Governor  of  Virginia,  which  post  he  held  for  three 
years  (1799-1802).  On  the  expiration  of  his 
official  term,  he  was  sent  to  co-operate  with  Ed 
ward  Livingston,  then  resident  Minister  at  Paris, 
in  negotiating  the  treaty  by  which  the  Territory  of 
Louisiana  was  secured  to  the  United  States.  In 
1811,  he  was  again  elected  Governor  of  Virginia, 
but  presently  resigned  to  become  Madison's  Sec 
retary  of  State. 

During  the  period  following  the  capture  of 
Washington,  September,  i8i4~March,  1815,  he 
acted  as  Secretary  of  War,  and  did  much  to  restore 
the  nation's  power  and  credit.  He  continued 
Secretary  of  State  until  March,  1817,  when  he 
became  President.  He  was  chosen  by  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  till  then  known  as  the  Republican. 
He  received  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  elec 
toral  votes,  his  opponent,  Rufus  King,  receiving 
but  thirty-four  votes.  The  violence  of  party  spirit 
greatly  abated  during  his  first  term,  and  he  was 
re-elected  in  1821,  with  but  one  dissenting  vote 
out  of  the  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  cast  by  the 
electoral  college.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1825,  he 


JAMBS  MONROE.  467 

retired  to  the  quiet  and  seclusion  of  his  estate  at 
Oak  Hill,  in  Loudon  County,  Virginia. 

During  Monroe's  Administration,  the  bound 
aries  of  the  United  States  were  -  considerably 
enlarged  by  the  purchase  of  Florida  from  Spain. 
Five  new  States  were  also  admitted  into  the 
Union:  Mississippi,  in  1817;  Illinois,  in  1818; 
Alabama,  in  1819;  Maine,  in  1820;  and  Missouri, 
in  1821. 

The  discussion  in  Congress  over  the  admission 
of  Missouri  showed  the  existence  of  a  new  dis 
turbing  element  in  our  national  politics.  It  was 
the  question  of  the  further  extension  of  slavery ; 
not  so  much  in  regard  to  its  moral  aspects  as  to 
its  bearing  on  the  question  of  the  balance  of  polit 
ical  power.  For  a  brief  period  two  parties,  one 
in  favor  of  and  the  other  against  admitting  any 
more  Slave  States,  filled  Congress  and  the  country 
with  angry  discussion.  This  was  quieted  for  the 
time  by  what  is  known  as  "  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise,"  which  restricted  slavery  to  the  territory 
lying  south  of  the  southern  boundary  of  Missouri. 

The  somewhat  celebrated  "  Monroe  Doctrine  " 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  results 
of  Monroe's  Administration.  It  was  enunciated 
in  his  message  to  Congress  on  the  2d  of  Decem 
ber,  1823,  and  arose  out  of  his  sympathy  for  the 
new  Republics  then  recently  set  up  in  South 
America.  In  substance  it  was,  that  the  United 
States  would  never  entangle  themselves  with  the 


458  °UR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

quarrels  of  Europe,  nor  allow  Europe  to  interfere 
with  the  affairs  of  this  continent. 

In  1830,  the  venerable  ex-President  went  to 
reside  with  his  son-in-law,  Samuel  L.  Gouverneur, 
in  New  York,  where  he  died  in  the  seventy-fourth 
year  of  his  age,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  being  the 
third  of  our  five  Revolutionary  Presidents  to  pass 
from  earth  on  the  anniversary  of  that  memorable 
day,  which  had  contributed  so  largely  to  the 
shaping  of  their  destinies. 


JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS, 

THE  son  of  John  Adams,  our  second  Presi 
dent,  and  himself  the  sixth  chief  executive 
of  the  Union,  was  born  at  Quincy,  Mass., 
on  the  nth  of  July,  1767.  He  enjoyed  rare 
opportunities  for  culture  from  his  mother,  who 
was  a  lady  of  very  superior  talents.  While  yet  a 
mere  boy,  he  twice  accompanied  his  father  to 
Europe,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  was  appointed 
private  secretary  to  Francis  Dana,  then  Minister 
to  Russia.  Graduating  from  Harvard  in  1788,  he 
studied  law  under  Theophilus  Parsons,  and  com 
menced  practice  in  Boston  in  1791.  In  1794,  he 
was  appointed  by  Washington  Minister  to  Holland. 
In  July,  1797,  he  married  Louisa,  daughter  of 
Joshua  Johnson,  then  American  Consul  at  London. 
In  1797,  his  father,  who  was  then  President,  gave 
him  the  mission  to  Berlin,  being  urged  to  this 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

^ 

recognition  of  his  own  son  by  Washington,  who 
pronounced  the  younger  Adams  "  the  most  valu 
able  public  character  we  have  abroad." 

On  the  accession  of  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency, 
Mr.  Adams  was  recalled  from  Berlin.  Soon  after 
his  return,  however,  he  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  where  he  speedily  won  a  command 
ing  position,  ardently  supporting  Jefferson's  mea 
sures  of  resistance  against  the  arrogance  and 

o  o 

insolence  of  England  in  her  encroachments  upon 
our  commerce  and  in  her  impressment  of  our 
seamen.  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  having 

o  o 

censured  him  for  his  course,  Adams  resigned  his 
seat;  but,  in  1809,  was  selected  by  Madison  to 
represent  the  United  States  at  St.  Petersburg. 
On  the  24th  of  December,  1814,  he,  in  conjunction 
with  Clay  and  Gallatin,  concluded  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  which  closed  "  the  Second  War  of  Inde 
pendence."  In  1817,  he  was  recalled  to  act  as 
Secretary  of  State  for  President  Monroe. 

At  the  election  for  Monroe's  successor,  in  1824, 
party  spirit  ran  high.  The  contest  was  an  excit 
ing  one.  Of  the  two  hundred  and  sixty  electoral 
votes,  Andrew  Jackson  received  99,  John  Quincy 
Adams  84,  Win,  H.  Crawford  41,  and  Henry 
Clay  37.  As  there  was  no  choice  by  the  people, 
"the  election  devolved  upon  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  Here  Mr.  Clay  gave  the  vote  of 
Kentucky  to  Adam~,  and  otherwise  promoted  his 
cause,  so  that  he  received  the  votes  of  thirteen 
States,  and  was  elected. 


470 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


The  Administration  of  the  younger  Adams  has 
been  characterized  as  the  purest  and  most 
economical  on  record.  Yet,  during  his  entire 
term,  he  was  the  object  of  the  most  rancorous  parti 
san  assaults,  He  had  appointed  Clay  as  his  Sec 
retary  of  State,  whereat  the  Jackson  men  accused 
them  both  of  "  bargaining  and  corruption,"  and  in 
all  ways  disparaged  and  condemned  their  work. 
In  his  official  intercourse,  it  was  said  Adams  often 
displayed  "  a  formal  coldness  which  froze  like  an 
iceberg."  This  coldness  of  manner,  along  with 
his  advocacy  of  a  high  protective  tariff  and  the 
policy  of  internal  improvements,  and  his  known 
hostility  to  slavery,  made  him  many  bitter  enemies, 
especially  in  the  South,  and  at  the  close  of  his 
first  term  he  was  probably  the  most  unpopular 
man  who  could  have  aspired  to  the  Presidency ; 
and  yet,  in  his  contest  with  Jackson  at  that  time, 
Adams  received  eighty-three  electoral  votes,  Jack 
son  being  chosen  by  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  General  Jackson 
having  been  elected  President,  Mr.  Adams  re 
tired  to  private  life;  but,  in  1831,  was  elected  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  where  he  took  his  seat,  pledged,  as  he  said, 
to  no  party.  He  at  once  became  the  leader  of 
that  little  band,  so  insignificant  in  numbers,  but 
powerful  in  determination  and  courage,  who,  re 
garding  slavery  as  both  a  moral  and  a  political 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  47  ! 

evil,  began,  in  Congress,  to  advocate  its  abolition. 
By  his  continual  presentation  of  petitions  against 
slavery,  he  gradually  yet  irresistibly  led  the  pub 
lic  mind  to  familiarize  itself  with  the  idea  of  its 
final  extinction.  To  the  fiery  onslaughts  of  the 
Southern  members  he  opposed  a  cold  and  unim- 
passioned  front. 

In  1842,  to  show  his  consistency  in  upholding 
the  right  of  petition,  he  presented  to  Congress 
the  petition  of  some  thirty  or  forty  over-zealous 
anti-slavery  persons  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  This  brought  upon  the  venerable  ex- 
President  a  perfect  tempest  of  indignation.  Reso 
lutions  to  expel  him  were  introduced ;  but,  after 
eleven  days  of  stormy  discussion,  they  were  laid 
on  the  table.  The  intrepidity  displayed  by  "  the 
old  man  eloquent  "  was  beginning  to  tell.  Even 
those  who  most  bitterly  opposed  his  doctrines 
were  learning  to  respect  him.  When,  after  a 
season  of  illness,  he  re-appeared  in  Congress,  in 
February,  1847,  every  member  instinctively  rose 
in  his  seat  to  do  the  old  man  honor.  On  the 
2ist  of  February,  1848,  Mr.  Adams  was  struck 
down  by  paralysis  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  He  was  taken,  senseless,  into 
an  ante-room.  Recovering  his  consciousness,  he 
looked  calmly  around,  and  said:  "This  is  the  last 
of  earth:  I  am  content."  These  were  his  last 
words.  In  an  apartment  beneath  the  dome  of  the 
Capitol  he  expired,  on  February  23d,  in  the 
eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 


472  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

ANDREW  JACKSON, 

SEVENTH  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Mecklenburg  County,  North 
i  Carolina,  on  the  i5th  of  March,  1767.     His 

father,  who  was  a  poor  Irishman,  dying  a  few  days 
before  Andrew's  birth,  he  and  his  two  older 
brothers  were  left  to  the  care  of  his  mother. 
The  boys  had  little  schooling.  Andrew  was  a 
rude,  turbulent  lad,  at  once  vindictive  and  gener 
ous,  full  of  mischief,  but  resolute,  of  indomitable 
courage,  and  wonderfully  self-reliant.  When  but 
thirteen,  fired  by  the  death  of  his  oldest  brother, 
who  had  perished  from  heat  and  exhaustion  at 
the  Battle  of  Stono,  he  shouldered  a  musket  and 
took  part  in  the  War  of  Independence.  He  and 
his  remaining  brother  were  made  prisoners  by 
the  British,  but  were  soon  released  through  the 
exertions  of  their  mother.  It  was  during  this 
captivity  that  Andrew  received  a  wound  from  a 
British  officer  for  refusing  to  black  the  boots  of 
that  dignitary.  Both  the  released  boys  were  soon 
sent  home  with  the  small-pox,  of  which  the  elder 
died,  and  Andrew  barely  escaped  death.  The 
mother  went  next,  dying  of  ship  fever,  contracted 
while  attending  upon  the  patriot  prisoners  at 
Charleston.  Thus  left  an  orphan,  Andrew  worked 
a  short  time  in  a  saddler's  shop.  He  then  tried 
school-teaching,  and  finally  studied  law,  being 


ANDRE  W  JACKSON.  473 

admitted  to  practice  when  but  twenty  years  old. 
At  that  time  he  was  very  commanding  in  appear 
ance,  being  six  feet  one  inch  in  height,  and  dis* 
tinguished  for  courage  and  activity. 

In  1791,  Jackson  married,  at  Nashville,  where 
he  had  built  up  a  lucrative  practice,  Mrs.  Rachel 
Robards,  the  divorced  wife,  as  both  he  and  the 
lady  herself  supposed,  of  Mr.  Lewis  Robards. 
They  had  lived  together  two  years,  when  it  was 
discovered  that  Mrs.  Robards  was  not  fully  di 
vorced  at  the  time  of  her  second  marriage.  As, 
however,  the  divorce  had  subsequently  been  per 
fected,  the  marriage  ceremony  was  performed 
anew,  in  1794.  In  after  years,  this  unfortunate 
mistake  was  made  the  basis  of  many  calumni 
ous  charges  against  Jackson  by  his  partisan 
enemies. 

Tennessee  having  been  made  a  State  in  1 796, 
Jackson  was  successively  its  Representative  and 
Senator  in  Congress,  and  a  Judge  of  its  Supreme 
Court.  Resigning  his  judgeship  in  1804,  he  en 
tered  into  and  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years 
an  extensive  trading  business.  He  was  also 
elected  at  this  period  major-general  in  the  militia. 
In  1806  he  was  severely  wounded  in  a  duel  with 
.Charles  Dickenson,  who  had  been  making  dis 
paraging  remarks  against  his  wife,  something 
which  Jackson  could  neither  forget  nor  forgive. 
Dickenson  fell  mortally  wounded,  and,  after  suf 
fering  intense  agony  for  a  short  time,  died.  This 


474  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

sad  affair,  in  which  Jackson  displayed  much  vin- 
dictiveness,  made  him  for  awhile  very  unpopular. 

When,  in  1812,  war  was  declared  against  Eng 
land,  Jackson  promptly  offered  his  services  to  the 
General  Government.  During  the  summer  of 
1813  he  had  another  of  those  personal  rencontres 
into  which  his  fiery  temper  was  continually  lead 
ing  him.  In  an  affray  with  Thomas  H.  Benton,  he 
received  a  pistol-shot  in  the  shoulder  at  the  hands 
of  Benton's  brother,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
never  fully  recovered.  He  was  still  suffering 
from  the  immediate  consequences  of  this  wound, 
when  tidings  were  received  at  Nashville  of  the 
massacre  at  Fort  Mimms  by  Creek  Indians;  Jack 
son,  regardless  of  his  wounds,  at  once  took  the 
field.  An  energetic  campaign,  in  which,  winning 
victory  after  victory,  he  established  his  reputation 
as  one  of  our  best  military  chieftains,  ended  the 
Creek  War,  and  broke  forever  the  power  of  the 
Indian  races  in  North  America. 

In  May,  1814,  Jackson  was  made  a  major-gen 
eral  in  the  regular  army  and  became  the  acknowl 
edged  military  leader  in  the  Southwest.  New 
Orleans  being  threatened  by  the  British,  he  hast 
ened  to  defend  it.  There,  on  the  8th  of  January, 
1815,  with  less  than  five  thousand  men,  mostly 
untrained  militia,  he  repulsed  the  attack  of  a  well- 
appointed  army  of  nearly  fourteen  thousand  vet 
eran  troops,  under  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
officers  in  the  English  service.  Generals  Pakei> 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  475 

ham  and  Gibbs,  of  the  British  forces,  were  killed, 
together  with  seven  hundred  of  their  men,  fourteen 
hundred  more  being  wounded  and  five  hundred 
taken  prisoners.  Jackson  lost  but  eight  killed  and 
fourteen  wounded.  Ten  days  later  the  enemy 
withdrew,  leaving  many  of  their  guns  behind 
them.  .The  full  glory  of  Jackson's  triumph  at 
New  Orleans  partisan  rancor  subsequently  sought 
to  dim.  But  high  military  authorities,  even  in 
England,  have  sustained  the  popular  judgment 
that  it  was  a  brilliant  victory,  achieved  by  rare 
foresight,  wise  conduct,  and  undoubted  warlike 
genius. 

Jackson's  success  at  New  Orleans  gave  him 
immense  popularity.  He  received  a  vote  of 
thanks  from  Congress,  was  made  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  southern  division  of  the  army,  and 
even  began  to  be  talked  of  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  President  Monroe  offered  him  the 
post  of  Secretary  of  War.  In  the  Serninole  War, 
which  commenced  about  the  close  of  1817,  he 
took  the  field  in  person.  He  was  successful, 
with  but  little  fighting.  His  execution  of  Arbuth- 
not  and  Armbruster,  two  British  subjects,  found 
guilty  by  a  military  court  of  inciting  the  Indians 
to  hostilities,  caused  an  angry  discussion  between 
England  and  the  United  States  which  at  one  time 
threatened  to  end  in  open  rupture.  In  Congress, 
also,  it  excited  a  warm  debate ;  but  resolutions 
censuring  the  General  were  rejected  by  the 


476  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

House,  and  came  to  no  conclusion  in  the 
Senate. 

When  Spain  ceded  Florida  to  the  Union,  Jack 
son  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Territory. 
In  1823  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Sen 
ate  by  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee,  which,  at  the 
same  time,  nominated  him  for  the  Presidency. 
This  nomination,  though  ridiculed  on  account  of 
Jackson's  alleged  unfitness  for  the  office,  never 
theless  resulted,  at  the  ensuing  election,  in  his 
receiving  more  votes  than  any  other  single  can 
didate  ;  but  the  choice  devolving  on  the  House 
of  Representatives,  Adams,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
elected.  For  Henry  Clay's  part  in  this  success  of 
Adams,  Jackson  became  his  bitter  enemy,  stigma 
tizing  him  as  the  "Judas  of  the  West."  In  the 
next  campaign,  however,  Jackson  achieved  a  de 
cided  triumph,  having  a  majority  of  eighty-three 
out  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  electoral  votes. 

In  retaliation  for  the  bitter  personal  attacks  he 
had  received  during  the  campaign,  Jackson  com 
menced  a  wholesale  political  proscription  of  his 
partisan  opponents.  Adopting  the  war-cry  of  his 
Secretary  of  State,  Marcy,  of  New  York,  that 
"to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  he  initiated  that 
system,  ever  since  so  prevalent,  of  turning  out  of 
office  every  man  not  on  the  side  of  the  winning 
party.  His  veto  of  the  bill  re-chartering  the 
United  States  Bank,  which  for  a  time  caused  quite 
a  panic  in  commercial  circles,  and  his  determined 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 

stand  against  the  "  nullifiers,"  under  the  lead  of 
Calhoun,  who,  with  threats  of  armed  resistance, 
demanded  a  reduction  of  the  tariff,  excited  a  warm 
opposition  to  the  President.  But,  in  spite  of 
every  effort,  the  election  of  1828  brought  him 
again  into  the  Presidential  chair  with  an  over 
whelming  majority,  he  receiving  two  hundred 
and  nineteen  electoral  votes  out  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty-eight,  which  was  then  the  total  number. 

On  the  loth  of  December,  1832,  Jackson  was 
compelled  by  the  conduct  of  South  Carolina  to 
issue  a  proclamation  threatening  to  use  the  army 
in  case  of  resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  tariff 
laws;  but,  fortunately,  Mr.  Clay  succeeded  in 
bringing  about  a  compromise,  by  which,  the  tariff 
being  modified,  the  South  Carolinians  were  ena 
bled  to  recede  from  their  position  with  becoming 
dignity. 

Jackson's  removal  of  the  deposits,  in  1833, 
caused  an  intense  excitement  throughout  the 
country.  In  Congress,  his  course  was  censured 
by  the  Senate,  but  approved  by  the  House.  A 
panic  existed  for  some  time  in  business  circles ; 
but  before  the  close  of  his  second  term  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  were  content  with  the  Presi 
dent's  course. 

Jackson's  foreign  diplomacy  had  been  very 
successful.  Useful  commercial  treaties  were 
made  with  several  countries  and  renewed  with 
others.  Indemnities  for  spoliations  on  American 


478  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

commerce  were   obtained   from  various   foreign 

o 

countries.  The  national  debt  was  extinguished, 
the  Cherokees  were  removed  from  Georgia  and 
"the  Creeks  from  Florida,  while  the  original  num 
ber  of  the  States  was  doubled  by  the  admission 
into  the  Union  of  Arkansas,  in  1836,  and  of 
Michigan,  in  1837.  On  the  other  hand,  the  slavery 
dispute  was  renewed  with  much  bitterness,  and 
the  Seminole  War  re-commenced. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1837,  Jackson  retired 
from  public  life.  He  returned  to  "  the  Hermit 
age,"  his  country  seat,  where  he  remained  until 
his  death,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1845.  The  imme 
diate  cause  of  his  death  was  dropsy ;  but  through 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  had  been  a  sufferer 
from  disease  in  one  form  or  another. 

General  Jackson  has  been  described  as  a  man 
of  unbounded  hospitality.  He  loved  fine  horses 
and  had  a  passion  for  racing  them.  "  His  temper," 
writes  Colonel  Benton,  "  was  placable  as  well  as 
irascible,  and  his  reconciliations  were  cordial  and 
sincere."  He  abhorred  debt,  public  as  well  as 
private.  His  love  of  country  was  a  master  pas 
sion.  "  He  was  a  thoroughly  honest  man,  as 
straightforward  in  action  as  his  thoughts  were 
unsophisticated."  Of  book-knowledge  he  pos 
sessed  little — scarcely  anything;  but  his  vigorous 
native  intelligence  and  intuitive  judgment  carried 
him  safely  through  where  the  most  profound 
learning  without  them  would  have  failed. 


MARTIN  VANBUREN. 


MARTIN   VAN   BUREN, 

THE  eighth  chief  executive  of  the  Union, 
was  the  son  of  a  thrifty  farmer  in  the  old 
town  of  Kinderhook,  in  Columbia  County, 
New  York,  where  he  was  born  on  the  5th  of 
December,  1782.  Early  evidencing  unusual 
mental  vigor,  a  good  academic  education  was 
given  to  him.  Finishing  this  at  the  age  of  four 
teen,  he  then  began  the  study  of  the  law.  After 
seven  years  of  study  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
and  commenced  to  practice  in  his  native  village. 
His  growing  reputation  and  practice  warranting 
him  in  seeking  a  wider  field,  in  1809  he  removed 
to  Hudson.  In  1812,  he  was  elected  to  the  Sen 
ate  of  New  York ;  and,  in  1815,  having  been 
appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  he  re 
moved  to  Albany.  In  1821,  he  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Convention  to  revise  the  Constitution  of 
New  York.  He  speedily  rose  to  distinction  in 
the  National  Senate,  and,  in  1827,  was  re-elected 
to  that  body,  but  the  year  following  resigned 
his  seat  to  take  the  position  of  Governor  of  New 
York. 

In  1829,  General  Jackson,  whose  election  to 
the  Presidency  was  no  doubt  due  in  a  great  mea 
sure  to  the  shrewd  political  management  of  Van 
Buren,  offered  him  the  post  of  Secretary  of  State, 


480  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

In  1831,  circumstances  making  it  necessary  for 
Jackson  to  re-organize  his  Cabinet,  Van  Buren 
resigned  his  Secretaryship,  but  was  immediately 
named  Minister  to  England.  The  Senate,  how 
ever,  greatly  to  the  President's  dissatisfaction, 
refused  to  confirm  the  nomination,  though  Van 
Buren  had  already  reached  London.  This  rejec 
tion  of  his  friend  aroused  all  of  Jackson's  deter 
mined  spirit.  He  not  only  succeeded  in  placing 
Mr.  Van  Buren  in  the  Vice-Presidency  during  his 
own  second  term,  but  he  also  began  to  work  zeal 
ously  to  obtain  Van  Buren's  nomination  as  his 
successor  in  the  Presidency.  He  triumphed,  and 
his  friend  received  the  Democratic  nomination, 
and  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  taking 
his  seat  in  the  Presidential  chair  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1837. 

Shortly  after  Van  Buren's  inauguration,  a  finan 
cial  panic,  ascribed  to  General  Jackson's  desire  to 
make  specie  the  currency  of  the  country,  and  his 
consequent  war  upon  the  banks,  brought  the 
country  to  the  very  verge  of  ruin.  Failures 
came  fast  and  frequent,  and  all  the  great  indus 
tries  of  the  nation  were  paralyzed.  At  the  same 
time,  the  war  in  Florida  against  the  Seminoles  lin 
gered  along,  without  the  slightest  apparent  pros 
pect  of  coming  to  an  end,  entailing  enormous 
expenses  on  the  Government;  while  the  anti- 
slavery  agitation,  growing  steadily  stronger,  ex 
cited  mobs  and  violence,  and  threatened  to  shake 


MAR  TIN  VAN  B  UREN. 

the  Republic  from  its  foundations.  Rightly  or 
wrongly,  these  troubles  were  attributed  to  Presi 
dent  Van  Buren  and  his  party,  as  resulting  from 
the  policy  they  had  pursued.  His  popularity 
waned  rapidly,  and  at  the  Presidential  election  in 
1840,  in  which  he  was  a  candidate  for  re-election, 
he  was  overwhelmingly  defeated. 

Retiring  to  Lindenwald,  his  fine  estate  near 
Kinderhook,  Van  Buren,  in  1844,  endeavored  to 
procure  a  re-nomination  for  the  Presidency,  but 
was  unsuccessful,  though  a  majority  of  delegates 
was  pledged  to  support  him.  His  defeat  was  due 
to  the  opposition  of  Southern  members,  based  on 
the  fact  that  he  had  written  a  letter  adverse  to 
the  annexation  of  Texas. 

In  1848,  he  was  brought  forward  by  the  Free-soil 
Democrats.  Though  not  elected,  the  party  which 
had  nominated  him  showed  unexpected  strength, 
nearly  three  hundred  thousand  votes  having  been 
cast  in  his  favor. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  now  retired  from  public  life. 
Fourteen  years  later,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  on  the 
24th  of  July,  1862,  he  died  at  Lindenwald.  He 
was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  of  culti 
vated  manners,  and  genial  disposition.  Though 
shrewd,  he  was  not  a  dishonest  politician.  His 
private  character  was  beyond  reproach.  He  de 
serves  a  conspicuous  position  among  those  who 
have  been  worthy  successors  of  our  immortal 

first  President. 
31 


482 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDEN1S. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON,  ninth 
President  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  at  Berkeley,  on  the  banks  of  the 
James  River,  in  Virginia,  on  the  gth  of  February, 
1773.  His  father,  Benjamin  Harrison,  was  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  for  several  years  Governor  of  Virginia.  Hav 
ing  received  a  good  education  at  Hampden-Sid- 
ney  College,  young  Harrison  began  the  study  of 
medicine;  but  the  barbarities  of  the  savages  on 
our  northwestern  frontier  having  excited  his 
sympathies  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  settlers,  he 
determined  to  enter  the  army,  as  being  a  place 
where  he  could  do  good  service.  Accordingly,  in 
1791,  shortly  after  St.  Clair's  defeat,  he  obtained 
from  President  Washington  a  commission  as  en 
sign  in  the  artillery.  Though  winter  was  coming 
on,  he  at  once  set  out  on  foot  across  the  wilder 
ness  to  Pittsburg,  whence  he  descended  the  Ohio 
to  Fort  Washington,  now  Cincinnati.  He  soon 
became  a  favorite  with  his  superiors,  and  by  his 
bravery  in  battle  speedily  attained  the  rank  of 
captain.  In  1 797,  when  but  twenty- four  years  old, 
having  recently  married,  he  resigned  his  commis 
sion,  to  accept  the  secretaryship  of  the  Northwest 
Territory.  In  1801,  he  was  appointed  Governor 
of  "the  Indiana  Territory,"  comprising  the  present 


WILLIAM  HENR  Y  HARRISON,  ,3 3 

States  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin.  This 
office  he  filled  satisfactorily  to  both  whites  and 
Indians  for  twelve  years,  during  which  time  he 
negotiated  many  excellent  treaties. 

During  the  summer  of  181 1,  the  Indians  of  the 
Northwest,  under  the  lead  of  the  celebrated  Te- 
cumseh,  and  instigated,  it  is  thought,  by  the  emis 
saries  of  England,  with  whom  we  were  upon  the 
point  of  going  to  war,  broke  out  into  open  hos 
tility.  Collecting  a  considerable  force  of  militia 
and  volunteers,  Harrison  took  the  field.  On  the 
7th  of  November,  he  encountered  and  defeated 
Tecumseh  on  the  banks  of  the  Tippecanoe  River. 
This  was  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested  battles 
ever  fought  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites. 
Its  victorious  results  added  greatly  to  Harrison's 
already  high  reputation;  and  in  1812,  after  Hull's 
ignominious  surrender  of  Detroit,  he  was  ap 
pointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  of  the 
Northwest.  Invested  with  almost  absolute  power, 
he  displayed  an  energy,  sagacity,  and  courage 
which  justified  the  confidence  reposed  in  him. 
By  almost  superhuman  exertions,  he  managed  to 
collect  an  arrny.  Perry,  on  the  loth  of  Septem 
ber,  1813,  having  defeated  the  British  fleet  on 
Lake  Erie,  Harrison,  who  had  been  waiting  the 
course  of  events,  now  hastened  to  take  the  field. 
Crossing  into  Canada,  he  repossessed  Detroit, 
and,  pushing  on  in  pursuit  of  the  flying  enemy, 
finally  brought  them  to  a  stand  on  the  banks  of 


484  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

the  Thames.  Here,  after  a  brief  but  sanguinary 
contest,  the  British  and  their  savage  allies  were 
defeated  with  heavy  loss.  Tecumseh,  the  leading 
spirit  of  the  Indians,  was  left  dead  on  the  field, 
Harrison's  triumph  was  complete  and  decisive. 

Shortly  after  this  victory,  which  gave  peace  to 
the  Northwest,  Harrison,  having  had  some  diffi 
culty  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  threw  up  his 
commission,  but  was  appointed  by  the  President 
to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Indians.  In  1816, 
he  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  Congress, 
where  he  gained  considerable  reputation,  both  as 
an  active  working  member  and  as  an  eloquent 
and  effective  speaker.  In  1824,  he  was  sent  from 
Ohio  to  the  United  States  Senate.  In  1828,  he 
was  appointed  by  John  Quincy  Adams  Minister 
to  the  Republic  of  Colombia ;  but  President  Jack 
son,  who  bore  him  no  good-will,  the  following 
year  recalled  him.  On  his  return  home,  he  retired 
to  his  farm  at  North  Bend,  on  the  Ohio  River, 
and  was  presently  elected  clerk  of  the  Hamilton 
County  Court  In -1836,  he  was  one  of  the  four 
candidates  who  ran  against  Van  Buren  for  the 
Presidency.  Jackson's  favorite,  as  we  have  seen, 
came  out  ahead  in  this  race.  But,  though  Harri 
son  was  not  elected,  there  was  such  evidence  of 
his  popularity  as  to  warrant  the  Whigs  in  uniting 
upon  him  as  their  candidate  in  the  campaign  of  1 840. 

That  campaign  was  a  memorable  one.  It  was, 
perhaps,  the  most  exciting,  yet,  at  the  same  time, 


WILLIAM  HENR  Y  HARRISON.  48  5 

one  of  the  freest  from  extreme  partisan  bitterness, 
of  any  Presidential  canvass  ever  known.  As 
"  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe "  and  "  the  log-cabin 
candidate,"  which  latter  phrase  was  first  used  in 
contempt,  Harrison  swept  everything  before  him, 
securing  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  out  of  the 
two  hundred  and  ninety-four  electoral  votes  cast, 
and  this,  too,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  Jackson 
to  prevent  his  success.  His  journey  to  be  inau 
gurated  was  one  continued  ovation.  His  inaugu 
ration,  which  took  place  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1841,  was  witnessed  by  a  vast  concourse  of  peo 
ple  from  all  parts  of  the  Union.  His  address,  by 
the  moderation  of  its  tone,  and  by  its  plain,  prac 
tical,  common-sense  views,  confirmed  his  immense 
popularity.  Selecting  for  his  Cabinet  some  of 
the  most  eminent  public  men  of  the  country,  he 
began  his  Administration  with  the  brightest  pros 
pects.  But,  in  the  midst  of  these  pleasing  antici 
pations,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  fit  of 
sickness,  which,  in  a  few  days  terminated  in  his 
death,  on  the  4th  of  April,  just  one  month  after 
his  inauguration.  His  last  words,  spoken  in  the 
delirium  of  fever,  were  characteristic  of  the  con 
scientiousness  with  which  he  had  accepted  the 
responsibilities  of  the  Presidential  office.  "  Sir," 
he  said,  as  if,  conscious  of  his  approaching  end, 
he  were  addressing  his  successor,  "  I  wish  you  to 
understand  the  principles  of  the  Government.  I 
wish  them  carried  out.  I  ask  nothing  more." 


486  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

The  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  Presideni 
Harrison  threw  the  whole  country  into  mourning. 
Much  had  been  hoped  from  him,  as  one  who  had 
the  best  interests  of  every  portion  of  the  Union 
at  heart.  There  was  a  noble  simplicity  in  his 
character  which  had  won  all  hearts.  Without 
being  brilliant,  his  was  an  intellect  of  solid,  sub 
stantial  worth.  He  was  a  frank,  guileless-hearted 
man,  of  incorruptible  integrity,  and  stands  forth 
among  our  Presidents,  brief  as  was  his  official 
term,  as  a  noble  representative  of  the  plain,  prac 
tical,  honest  yeomanry  of  the  land.  "  Not  one 
single  spot,"  says  Abbott,  "  can  be  found  to  sully 
the  brightness  of  his  fame ;  and  through  all  the 
ages,  Americans  will  pronounce  with  love  and 
reverence  the  name  of  William  Henry  Harrison." 


JOHN  TYLER. 

ON   the  death  of  General   Harrison,  April 
4th,  1841,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history 
the  administration  of  the  Government  de 
volved  on  the  Vice-President.     The  gentleman 
thus  elevated  to  the  Presidency  was  John  Tyler, 
the   son  of  a  wealthy  landholder  of  Virginia,  at 
one  time    Governor    of  that    State.      Born    in 
Charles   City  County,  March   29th,   1790,  young 
Tyler,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  graduated  from 
William  and  Mary  College  with  the  reputation  of 


JOHN  TYLER. 

having  delivered  the  best  commencement  oration 
ever  heard  by  the  faculty.  When  only  nineteen 
he  began  to  practice  law,  rising  to  eminence  in 
his  profession  with  surprising  rapidity.  Two 
years  later  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature. 
After  serving  five  successive  terms  in  the  Legis 
lature,  he  was,  in  1816,  in  1817,  and  again  in 
1819,  elected  to  Congress.  Compelled  by  ill- 
health  to  resign  his  seat  in  Congress,  he  was,  in 
1825,  chosen  Governor  of  the  State.  In  1827,  he 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  over  the 
celebrated  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke. 

During  the  whole  of  his  Congressional  career, 
Mr.  Tyler  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  strict 
construction  doctrines  •  of  the  then  Democratic 
party,  opposing  the  United  States  Bank,  a  protec 
tive  tariff,  internal  improvements  by  the  General 
Government,  and,  in  short,  all  measures  tending 
to  the  centralization  of  power.  He  was  also  an 
ardent  opponent  of  any  restrictions  upon  slavery, 
and  avowed  his  sympathies  with  the  nullification 
theories  of  Calhoun.  On  this  last  subject  he 
finally  came  into  the  opposition  against  Jackson. 
In  the  session  of  i833-'34,  he  voted  for  Clay's 
resolutions  censuring  Jackson  for  his  removal  of 
the  deposits.  In  1836,  when  the  Virginia  Legis 
lature  instructed  its  representatives  in  Congress 
to  vote  for  the  rescinding  of  these  resolutions, 
Mr.  Tyler,  who  had  early  committed  himself  to 
the  right  of  instruction,  could  not  conscientiously 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

comply  with  the  request  of  the  Legislature,  noi 
hold  his  seat  in  disregard  of  its  mandate,  and  ac 
cordingly  resigned.  In  1838,  he  was  again  sent 
to  the  Legislature,  and,  in  1839,  we  ^d  him  a 
delegate  to  the  Whig  National  Convention, 
which,  at  Harrisburg,  nominated  Harrison  and 
himself  as  candidates  for  President  and  Vice- 
President.  Of  the  campaign  which  followed,  and 
of  the  subsequent  death  of  Harrison,  we  have 
already  given  an  account. 

On  receiving  tidings  of  the  President's   death, 

o  o 

Mr.  Tyler  hastened  to  Washington,  and,  on  the 
6th  of  April,  was  inaugurated,  and  he  retained 
all  the  Cabinet  officers  Harrison  had  appointed. 
Three  days  later,  he  issued  an  inaugural  address, 
which  was  well  received,  both  by  the  public  and 
by  his  partisan  friends,  who,  knowing  his  antece 
dents,  had  been  somewhat  dubious  as  to  what 
policy  he  would  pursue.  But  this  was  only  the 
calm  before  the  storm.  Tyler's  veto  of  the  bill 
for  a  "  fiscal  bank  of  the  United  States,"  led  to  a 
complete  rupture  with  the  party  by  which  he  had 
been  elected,  who  charged  him  with  treachery  to 
his  principles.  Attempting  conciliation,  he  only 
displeased  the  Democrats,  who  had  at  first  shown 
a  disposition  to  stand  by  him,  without  regaining 
the  favor  of  the  Whigs.  In  consequence  of  this 
course  of  action,  Tyler's  Cabinet  all  resigned, 
and  in  their  places  several  Democrats  were  ap 
pointed. 


JOHN  TYLER.  489 

During  his  Administration  several  very  impor 
tant  measures  were  adopted.  Among  them  the 
act  establishing  a  uniform  system  of  bankruptcy, 
passed  in  1841,  the  tariff  law  of  1842,  and  the 
scheme  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  which,  by  the 
vigorous  efforts  of  the  President,  was  brought  to 
a  successful  issue  by  the  passage  of  joint  resolu 
tions  in  Congress,  on  the  ist  of  March,  1845,  just 
three  days  before  the  close  of  his  term.  The 
formal  act  of  annexation,  however,  was  not  passed 
until  a  later  period.  One  new  State — Florida — 
was  also  admitted  into  the  Union  under  Mr. 
Tyler's  Administration,  in  1845. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  Presidency,  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1845,  Mr.  Tyler  remained  in 
private  life  at  his  beautiful  home  of  Sherwood 
Forest,  in  Charles  City  County,  till,  in  1861,  he 
appeared  as  a  member  of  the  Peace  Convention, 
composed  of  delegates  from  the  "  Border  States,'' 
which  met  at  Washington  to  endeavor  to  arrange 
terms  of  compromise  between  the  seceded  States 
and  the  General  Government.  Of  this  Conven 
tion,  which  accomplished  nothing,  he  was  presi 
dent. 

Subsequently,  Mr.  Tyler  renounced  his  alle 
giance  to  the  United  States,  and  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Confederate  Congress.  While 
acting  in  this  capacity  he  was  taken  sick  at  Rich 
mond,  where  he  died  after  a  brief  illness,  on  the 
i/th  of  January,  1862. 


490  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK. 

MECKLENBURG  County,  North  Caro 
lina,  has  the  distinction  of  being  the 
birthplace  of  two  Presidents  of  the 
United  States — Andrew  Jackson  and  James  Knox 
Polk — the  latter  of  whom  was  born  there  on  the 
2d  of  November,  1795.  Like  his  friend  and 
neighbor,  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Polk  was  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent.  It  was  his  great-uncle,  Col 
onel  Thomas  Polk,  who,  on  the  I9th  of  May,  1775, 
read  from  the  steps  of  the  court-house,  at  Char 
lotte,  that  famous  "Mecklenburg  Declaration  of 
Independence,"  to  which  reference  has  been  made 
in  our  sketch  of  Jefferson.  James  at  a  very  early 
age  manifested  decided  literary  tastes.  After  a 
vain  attempt  to  induce  him  to  become  a  store 
keeper,  his  father  finally  consented  to  his  enter 
ing  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel 
Hill,  from  which,  in  his  twenty-third  year,  he  grad 
uated  with  the  highest  honors.  Studying  law  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  renewed  a  former 
acquaintance  with  General  Jackson,  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar,  and  commenced  practice  at 
Columbia. 

In  1823,  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of 
Tennessee,  and  during  the  following  year  was 
married  to  Miss  Sarah  Childress,  a  beautiful  and 
accomplished  young  lady,  of  refined  manners  and 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK.  ^  l 

rare  social  gifts.  In  the  fall  of  1825,  he  was 
elected  to  Congress,  where  he  remained  the  next 
fourteen  years,  during  five  sessions  occupying  the 
responsible  and  honorable  position  of  Speaker  of 
the -House,  the  duties  of  which  he  performed  with 
a  dignity  and  dispassionateness  which  won  for  him 
the  warmest  encomiums  from  all  parties.  In  1839, 
he  was  chosen  Governor  of  Tennessee.  Again  a 
candidate  in  1841,  and  also  in  1843,  he  was  both 
times  defeated, — a  result  due  to  one  of  those 
periodical  revolutions  in  politics  which  seem  in 
separable  from  republican  forms  of  government, 
rather  than  to  Mr.  Folk's  lack  of  personal  popu 
larity. 

As  the  avowed  friend  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  Mr.  Polk,  in  1844,  was  nominated  by  the 
Democrats  for  the  Presidency.  Though  he  had 
for  his  opponent  no  less  a  person  than  the  great 
and  popular  orator  and  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  he 
received  one  hundred  and  seventy  out  of  two  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five  votes  in  the  electoral  col 
lege.  He  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1845.  Three  days  previously,  his"  predecessor, 
John  Tyler,  had  signed  the  joint  resolutions  of 
Congress  favoring  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the 
United  States.  Consequently,  at  the  very  begin 
ning  of  his  Administration,  Mr.  Polk  found  the 
country  involved  in  disputes  with  Mexico,  which, 
on  the  formal  annexation  of  Texas,  in  December, 
1845.  threatened  to  result  in  hostilities  between 


492  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

the  two  countries.  General  Zachary  Taylor  was 
sent  with  a  small  army  to  occupy  the  territory 
stretching  from  thq  Neuces  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
which  latter  stream  Texas  claimed  as  her  western 
boundary.  Mexico,  on  the  other  hand,  declaring 
that  Texas  had  never  extended  further  west  than 
the  Neuces,  dispatched  a  force  to  watch  Taylor. 
A  slight  collision,  in  April,  1846,  was  followed,  a 
few  days  later,  by  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  in  which  General  Taylor  was 
victorious.  When  the  tidings  of  these  battles 
reached  Washington,  the  President,  on  May  nth, 
sent  a  special  message  to  Congress,  declaring 
"  that  war  existed  by  the  act  of  Mexico,"  and  ask 
ing  for  men  and  money  to  carry  it  on.  Congress 
promptly  voted  ten  million  dollars,  and  authorized 
the  President  to  call  out  fifty  thousand  volun 
teers.  Hostilities  were  prosecuted  vigorously.  An 
American  army,  under  General  Scott,  finally  fought 
its  way  to  the  capture  of  the  City  of  Mexico.  On 
the  2d  of  February,  1848,  the  treaty  of  Guada- 
loupe  Hidalgo  was  signed,  and  ratified  by  the 
Senate  on  the  loth  of  March  following,  by  which 
New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  comprising  a 
territory  of  more  than  half  a  million  square  miles, 
were  added  to  the  United  States.  In  return,  the 
United  States  agreed  to  pay  Mexico  fifteen  mil 
lion  of  dollars,  and  to  assume  the  debts  due  by 
Mexico  to  citizens  of  the  United  States,  amount 
ing  to  three  and  a  half  millions  more. 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK. 

Besides  Texas,  two  other  States  were  admitted 
into  the  Union  during  Mr.  Folk's  Administration. 
These  were  Iowa  and  Wisconsin — the  former  in 
1846  and  the  latter  in  1848. 
•  When  the  war  with  Mexico  first  broke  out, 
negotiations  were  pending  between  England  and 
the  United  States,  in  regard  to  Oregon,  which  we 
had  long  deemed  a  portion  of  our  own  territory. 
"  Fifty-four  forty  [54°  40']  or  fight !"  had  been  one 
of  the  Democratic  battle-cries  during  the  canvass 
which  resulted  in  Mr.  Folk's  election,  and  he,  in 
his  inaugural,  had  maintained  that  our  title  to 
Oregon  was  unquestionable.  England,  however, 
still  urged  her  claim  to  the  whole  country.  After 
considerable  negotiation,  the  President  finally,  as 
an  amicable  compromise,  offered  the  boundary  of 
the  parallel  of  49°,  giving  Vancouver's  Island  to 
Great  Britain.  His  offer  was  accepted,  and  war 
perhaps  avoided.  Another  important  measure  of 
Mr.  Folk's  Administration  was  a  modification  of 
the  tariff,  in  1846,  by  which  its  former  protective 
features  were  much  lessened. 

On  his  nomination,  in  1 844,  Mr.  Polk  had  pledged 
himself  to  the  one-term  principle.  Consequently 
he  was  not  a  candidate  for  re-election  in  1848. 
Having  witnessed  the  inauguration  of  his  sue- 

ct>  O 

cessor,  General  Taylor,  he  returned  to  his  home 
near  Nashville.  "  He  was  then,"  says  Abbott, 
but  fifty-four  years  of  age.  He  had  ever  been 
strictly  temperate  in  his  habits,  and  his  health  was 


404  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

good.  With  an  ample  fortune,  a  choice  library,  a 
cultivated  mind,  and  domestic  ties  of  the  dearest 
nature,  it  seemed  as  though  long  years  of  tran 
quillity  and  happiness  were  before  him."  But  it 
was  not  so  to  be.  On  his  way  home  he  felt  pre 
monitory  symptoms  of  cholera,  and  when  he 
reached  there  his  system  was  much  weakened. 
Though'  at  first  able  to  work  a  little  in  superin 
tending  the  fitting  up  of  his  grounds,  he  was  soon 
compelled  to  take  to  his  bed.  He  never  rose 
from  it  again.  Though  finally  the  disease  was 
checked,  he  had  not  strength  left  to  bring  on  the 
necessary  reaction.  "  He  died  without  a  struggle, 
simply  ceasing  to  breathe,  as  when  deep  and  quiet 
sleep  falls  upon  a  weary  man,"  on  the  i5th  of 
June,  1849,  a  little  more  than  three  months  after 
his  retirement  from  the  Presidency.  His  remains 
lie  in  the  spacious  lawn  of  his  former  home  in 
the  city  of  Nashville. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR, 

TWELFTH  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Orange  County,  Virginia,  No 
vember  24th,  1784.  His  father,  Colonel  Rich 
ard  Taylor,  was  a   noted    Revolutionary  officer. 
His  mother,  as  is  usually  the   case  with  the  moth 
ers  of  men  who  have   risen  to   distinction,  was  a 
woman  of  great  force  of  character.      Whilst  he 


ZA CHAR  Y  TA  YL  OR. 


495 


was  yet  an  infant,  his  parents  removed  to  the  then 
wilderness  near  the  present  city  of  Louisville. 
Here  in  the  depths  of  the  forest  swarming  with 
hostile  savages,  young  Taylor  found  few  educa 
tional  advantages,  though  the  training  he  received 
was  no  doubt  one  to  develop  those  military  qual 
ities  he  subsequently  displayed.  He  grew  up  a 
rugged,  brave,  self-reliant  youth,  with  more  of  a 
certain  frank,  almost  blunt,  off-handedness,  than 
exterior  polish. 

In  1808,  he  received  a  lieutenant's  commission 
in  the  army, and  in  1810  married  Margaret  Smith. 
His  military  career  fairly  opened  in  1812,  when 
he  was  sent  to  the  defense  of  our  western  border. 
While  in  command  of  Fort  Harrison,  on  the 
Wabash,  with  a  garrison  of  but  fifty-two  men,  he 
was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  band  of  Indians,  who 
succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  the  fort.  But  the 
young  captain  with  his  handful  of  men  extinguished 
the  flames,  and  forced  the  enemy  to  retreat.  For 
this  gallant  exploit,  he  received  a  brevet  major's 
commission. 

Nothing-   remarkable   occurred   in    his    life   for 

o 

many  years  subsequent,  until,  in  1837,  we  find 
him  a  colonel  in  Florida,  operating  against  the 
Seminoles.  On  Christmas  Day  of  that  year  he 
won  the  battle  of  Okechobee,  one  of  the  most 
fiercely  contested  actions  in  the  annals  of  Indian 
warfare.  The' Seminoles  never  rallied  again  in 
formidable  numbers.  For  his  signal  services  in 


496  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

this  affair  Taylor  was  made  a  brigadier,  and  ap 
pointed  Commander-in-chief.  This  post  he  retained 
till  1840,  when,  having  purchased  an  estate  near 
Baton  Rouge,  in  Louisiana,  he  was,  at  his  own 
request,  placed  in  the  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  Southwest. 

While  still  holding  this  command  in  the  spring 
of  1845,  Congress  having  passed  joint  resolutions 
for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  General  Taylor  was 
sent  with  four  thousand  troops  to  Corpus  Christi, 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Neuces,  and  in  territory 
claimed  by  both  Mexico  and  Texas.  It  has  been 
said  that  it  was  the  secret  object  of  our  Govern 
ment  to  provoke  a  conflict  with  Mexico,  yet  so 
that  the  responsibility  of  it  should  appear  to  rest 
upon  General  Taylor.  If  such  was  the  object, 
the  scheme  signally  failed.  Taylor  made  no  move 
without  explicit  orders.  It  was  by  the  President's 
positive  command  that,  on  the  8th  of  March,  1846, 
the  wary  old  General  began  his  march  into  the 
disputed  district  lying  between  the  Neuces  and 
the  Rio  Grande.  Reaching  the  latter  stream  on 
the  28th,  he  built  Fort  Brown  immediately  oppo 
site  the  Mexican  town  of  Matamoras.  On  the 
1 2th  of  March  the  Mexican  commander  peremp 
torily  ordered  Taylor  to  retire  beyond  the  Neuces. 
A  refusal  to  do  this,  he  said,  would  be  regarded 
as  a  declaration  of  war.  General  Taylor  replied 
that  his  instructions  would  not  permit  him  to 
retire,  and  that  if  the  Mexicans  saw  fit  to  com- 


ZA  CttAR  Y  TA  YL  0£.  49  7 

mence  hostilities  he  would  not  shrink  from  the 
conflict.  Six  thousand  Mexicans  at  once  crossed 
the  Rio  Grande.  With  less  than  three  thousand 
troops,  Taylor,  on  the  8th  of  April,  attacked  and 
defeated  them  at  Palo  Alto.  Rallying  in  a  strong 
position  at  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  the  Mexicans 
were  again  attacked,  and  after  a  stubborn  fight 
driven  back  across  the  river  with  great  loss.  These 
victories  were  hailed  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  country,  and  Taylor  was  promoted 
to  a  major-generalship. 

Moving  rapidly  forward  to  'Monterey,  he  took 
that  strongly  fortified  city,  after  a  desperate  fight 
of  three  days.  Making  it  his  headquarters,  the 
victor  was  preparing  for  an  important  move,  when 
General  Scott,  who  was  about  to  lead  an  expedi 
tion  against  Vera  Cruz,  took  away  the  best  part 
of  his  troops,  leaving  him  with  only  five  thousand 
men,  mostly  raw  volunteers.  Hearing  of  this, 
Santa  Anna,  undoubtedly  the  ablest  of  the  Mexican 
generals,  with  twenty  thousand  picked  men, 
pushed  rapidly  down  the  Rio  Grande  with  the 
design  of  overpowering  Taylor's  little  army.  The 
latter,  on  the  2ist  of  February,  1847,  took  position 
at  Buena  Vista  and  awaited  the  approach  of  his 
antagonist,  who  made  his  appearance  the  following 
day,  and  at  once  began  a  fierce  attack.  Never 
was  battle  fought  with  more  desperate  courage 
or  greater  skill.  Three  times  during  the  day 
victory  seemed  with  the  Mexicans ;  but  finally  the 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

stubborn  valor  of  Taylor's   little  band  won   the 
field. 

The  tidings  of  this  brilliant  victory  excited  the 
greatest  enthusiasm  and  gained  an  imperishable 
renown  for  the  triumphant  General.  On  his  re 
turn  home  in  November,  u  Old  Rough  and  Ready/1 
as  his  soldiers  familiarly  called  him,  was  greeted 
everywhere  by  the  warmest  demonstrations  of 
popular  applause.  Even  before  this  he  had  been 
nominated  at  public  meetings  for  the  Presidency  ; 
and  now  the  Whigs,  casting  about  for  a  popular 
candidate,  made  him  their  party  nominee.  Not 
withstanding  the  defection  from  their  ranks  of 
Henry  Wilson  and  others,  who  were  opposed  to 
Taylor  as  being  a  slave-holder,  he  was  elected  by 
a  respectable  majority,  receiving  one  hundred  and 
sixty-three  electoral  votes.  His  inauguration 
took  place  on  Monday,  March  5th,  1849. 

Though  he  selected  an  excellent  Cabinet,  the 
old  soldier  found  himself  in  a  trying  position.  A 
vehement  struggle  had  commenced  in  Congress 
about  the  organization  of  the  new  Territories,  the 
admission  of  California,  and  the  settlement  of  the 
boundary  between  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  all 
these  questions  being  connected  with  the  great 
and  absorbing  one  of  'the  extension  or  non-ex 
tension  of  slavery.  Taylor,  in  his  message  to 
Congress,  recommended  the  admission  of  Cali 
fornia  as  a  free  State,  and  that  the  remaining 
Territories  should  be  allowed  to  form  State  Con- 


MILLARD  FILLMORE. 

stitutions  to  suit  themselves.  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  distasteful  to  the  extremists  of  the 
South,  many  of  whom  made  open  threats  of  seces 
sion  in  case  of  the  adoption  of  the  President's 
suggestions.  To  adjust  the  difficulty,  Mr.  Clay, 
in  the  Senate,  introduced  his  "  compromise  mea 
sures,"  which  were  still  under  debate,  when,  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1850,  General  Taylor  was  seized 
with  bilious  fever,  of  which  he  died  on  the  9th  at 
the  Presidential  Mansion.  His  last  words  were: 
"  I  have  tried  to  do  my  duty." 


MILLARD   FILLMORE. 

ON  the  death  of  General  Taylor,  his  suc 
cessor,  according  to  the  Constitution,  was 
the  Vice-President.  The  gentleman  then 
filling  that  position  was  Millard  Fillmore,  an  emi 
nent  lawyer  of  New  York.  He  was  compara 
tively  a  young  man,  having  been  born  on  the  ;th 
of  January,  1800,  at  Summer  Hill,  Cayuga  County, 
New  York.  His  father  being  poor,  his  means  of 
education  had  been  limited.  Apprenticed  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  to  a  clothier,  he  found  time  during 
his  evenings  to  gratify  an  insatiable  thirst  for 
knowledge  by  reading.  His  studious  habits,  fine 
personal  appearance,  and  gentlemanly  bearing 
having  attracted  the  attention  of  a  lawyer  in  th« 
neighborhood,  that  gentleman  offered  to  receive 


500  OUR  DORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

him  in  his  office  and  to  assist  him  pecuniarily 
until  he  should  be  admitted  to  the  bar.  This  offer 
young  Fillmore,  then  in  his  nineteenth  year,  thank 
fully  accepted.  With  this  help,  and  by  teaching 
during  the  winters,  he  was  enabled  to  prosecute 
his  studies  to  a  successful  issue,  and  in  1823  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  opening  an  office  in  the  vil 
lage  of  Aurora,  New  York.  In  1826,  he  married 
Miss  Abigail  Powers,  a  lady  of  eminent  worth. 

Mr.  Fillmore  steadily  rose  in  his  profession. 
In  1829,  he  was  elected  by  the  Whigs  to  the  State 
Legislature,  and  soon  afterward  removed  to  Buf 
falo.  In  1832,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  and  again  in  1837,  but  declined  running  a 
third  time.  He  now  had  a  wide  reputation,  and 
in  the  year  1847  was  elected  State  Comptroller 
and  removed  to  Albany.  The  following  year,  he 
was  placed  in  nomination  as  Vice  President  on  the 
ticket  with  General  Taylor.  When,  on  the  5th  of 
March,  1849,  Taylor  took  the  Presidential  chair, 
Mr.  Fillmore,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  became 
President  of  the  United  States  Senate.  Here,  the 
first  presiding  officer  to  take  so  firm  a  step,  he 
announced  his  determination,  in  spite  of  all  prece 
dents  to  the  contrary,  to  promptly  call  Senators  to 
order  for  any  offensive  words  they  might  utter  in 
debate. 

When,  after  the  unexpected  death  of  General 
Taylor,  on  July  9th,  1850,  the  office  of  chief  ex 
ecutive  devolved  upon  Mr.  Fillmore,  he  found 


M1LLARD  FILLMORE.  cor 

his  position  no  easy  or  pleasant  one.  His  political 
opponents  had  a  majority  in  both  houses  of  Con 
gress.  The  controversy  on  the  slavery  question 
had  embittered  public  feeling,  and  it  required  a 
skillful  pilot  to  guide  the  ship  of  state  safely  through 
the  perils  by  which  she  was  surrounded.  The  com 
promise  measures  of  Mr.  Clay,  to  which  we  have 
already  referred  in  our  sketch  of  General  Taylor, 
were  finally  passed,  and  received  the  approving 
signature  of  Mr.  Fillmore.  One  of  these  meas 
ures  was  the  admission  of  California  as  a  free 
State  ;  another  was  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  These  were  thought  to  be 
concessions  to  the  cause  of  freedom ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  satisfy  the  pro-slavery  agitators, 
a  bill  was  passed  to  give  the  owners  of  slaves 
power  to  recapture  fugitive  slaves  in  any  part  of 
the  free  States  and  carry  them  back  without  a  jury 
trial.  But,  though  enacted  in  the  hope  of  allay 
ing  sectional  animosity,  these  measures  brought 
about  only  a  temporary  calm,  while  they  aggra 
vated  the  violence  of  extremists  both  North  and 
South. 

The  compromise  measures  and  the  fitting  out 
of  the  famous  Japan  expedition  were  the  principal 
features  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  otherwise  uneventful 
Administration.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  he 
retired  from  office,  and  immediately  afterward 
took  a  long  tour  through  the  Southern  States, 
where  he  met  with  a  cordial  reception. 


502  QUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


In  1855,  Mf-  Fillmore  visited  Europe.  He  wa, 
everywhere  received  with  those  marks  of  atten 
tion  which,  according  to  European  ideas,  are  due 
to  those  who  have  occupied  the  most  distinguished 
positions.  On  his  return  home,  in  1856,  he  was 
nominated  for  the  Presidency  by  the  so-called 
"Know-nothing,"  or  "American"  party;  but  being 
very  decidedly  defeated,  he  retired  to  private  life. 
He  died  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  on  the  8th  of 
March,  1874. 


FRANKLIN   PIERCE, 

FOURTEENTH  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  at  Hillsborough,  N.  H., 
November  23d,  1804.  His  father,  General 
Benjamin  Pierce,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 
and  was  a  man  of  considerable  local  repute,  hav 
ing  also  served  as  Governor  of  New  Hampshire. 
Graduating  from -Bowdoin  College  in  1824,  Mr. 
Pierce  studied  law  with  the  celebrated  Levi 
Woodbury,  and  commenced  practice  in  his  native 
town  in  1837.  He  married  in  1834.  He  early 
entered  the  political  field  and,  in  1833,  after  hav 
ing  previously  served  several  terms  in  the  State 
Legislature,  was  elected  to  Congress.  Here  he 
showed  himself  an  earnest  State-rights  Democrat, 
and  was  regarded  as  a  fair  working  member.  In 
1837,  when  but  thirty-three  years  of  age,  he  was 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 

elected  to  the  National  Senate  and,  during  the 
following  year,  removed  to  Concord,  where  he  at 
once  took  rank  among  the  leading  lawyers  of  the 
State. 

Though  Mr.  Pierce  had  declined  the  office  oi 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  offered 
to  him  by  President  Polk,  he,  nevertheless,  when 
hostilities  were  declared  against  Mexico,  accepted 
a  brigadier-generalship  in  the  army,  successfully 
marching  with  twenty-four  hundred  men  from  the 
sea-coast  to  Puebla,  where  he  reinforced  General 
Scott.  The  latter,  on  the  arrival  of  Pierce,  imme 
diately  prepared  to  make  his  long-contemplated 
attack  upon  the  City  of  Mexico.  At  the  battle  of 
Contreras,  on  the  igth  of  August,  1847,  where  he 
led  an  assaulting  column  four  thousand  strong, 
General  Pierce  showed  himself  to  be  a  brave  and 
energetic  soldier.  Early  in  the  fight  his  leg  was 
broken  by  his  horse  falling  upon  him,  yet  he  kept 
his  saddle  during  the  entire  conflict,  which  did  not 
cease  till  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  The  next  day 
also,  he  took  part  in  the  still  more  desperate  fight 
at  Churubusco,  where,  overcome  by  pain  and 
exhaustion,  he  fainted  on  the  field.  At  Molino 
Del  Rey,  where  the  hottest  battle  of  the  war  was 
fought,  he  narrowly  escaped  death  from  a  shell 
which  bursted  beneath  his  horse. 

The  American  army  triumphantly  entered  the 
City  of  Mexico  on  the  I3th  of  September,  1847. 
General  Pierce  remained  there  until  the  following 


504  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

December,  when  he  returned  home  and  resumed 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  the  Democratic 
Convention  which  met  at  Baltimore,  June  ist, 
1852,  Cass,  Buchanan,  and  Douglas  were  the 
prominent  candidates.  After  thirty-five  indecisive 
ballots  Franklin  Pierce  was  proposed,  and  on  the 
forty-ninth  ballot  he  was  nominated  for  the  Presi 
dency.  He  was  elected  by  an  overwhelming 
majority,  and  was  inaugurated  Chief  Magistrate 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  receiving  two  hundred 
and  fifty-four  electoral  votes,  while  his  opponent, 
General  Winfield  Scott,  received  but  forty-two. 

Though  both  the  great  parties  of  the  country 
had  adopted  platforms  favoring  the  recent  com 
promise  measures  of  Clay,  and  deprecating  any 
renewal  of  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question, 
General  Pierce's  Administration,  by  reason  of  the 
bringing  up  of  that  very  question,  was  one  of  the 
most  stormy  in  our  history.  Douglas's  bill  for  the 
organization  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  by  which 
the  Missouri  Compromise  Act  of  1 8  20  was  repealed 
allowing  slavery  to  enter  where  it  had  been  for 
ever  excluded,  and  which,  having  the  support  of 
the  President,  became  a  law  on  the  last  day  of 
May>  1853,  excited  the  most  intense  indignation 
in  the  free  States,  and  greatly  increased  the 
strength  of  the  anti-slavery  power.  In  Kansas  a 
bitter  contest,  almost  attaining  the  proportions 
of  civil  war,  began  between  the  partisans  of 
the  South  and  the  North,  This  contest  was 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE.  505 

still  raging  when  Mr.  Pierce's  term  drew  to  its 
close.  Other  events  of  his  Administration  were  the 
bombardment  of  Greytown,  in  Central  America, 
under  orders  from  our  Government ;  efforts 
under  Government  direction  for  the  acquisition 
of  Cuba ;  and  the  use  of  the  President's  official 
influence  and  patronage  against  the  Anti-Slavery 
settlers  of  Kansas. 

His  friends  sought  to  obtain  his  nomination  for 
a  second  term,  but  did  not  succeed.  On  the  4th  of 
March,  1857,  therefore,  he  retired  to  his  home  at 
Concord.  That  home,  already  bereaved  by  the 
loss  of  three  promising  boys — his  only  children, 
— was  now  to  have  a  still  greater  loss, — that  of 
the  wife  and  afflicted  mother,  who,  grief-stricken 
at  the  sudden  death,  by  a  railroad  accident,  of  her 
last  boy,  sunk  under  consumption,  leaving  Mr. 
Pierce  alone  in  the  world — wifeless  as  well  as 
childless. 

The  sorrowing  ex-President  soon  after  took  a 
trip  to  Madeira,  and  made  a  protracted  tour  in 
Europe,  returning  home  in  1860.  During  the 
Civil  War  he  delivered  in  Concord  a  speech,  still 
known  as  the  "  IVIausoleum  of  Hearts  Speech," 
in  which  he  is  regarded  as  having  expressed  a 
decided  sympathy  for  the  Confederates.  He  died 
at  Concord  on  the  8th  of  October,  1869,  having 
lost  much  of  his  hold  on  the  respect  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  both  North  and  South,  by  his  lack  of 
decision  for  either, 


506 


OUR  FORMER 


JAMES   BUCHANAN, 


FIFTEENTH  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  April 
22d,  1791.  His  father,  a  native  of  the 
North  of  Ireland,  who  had  come  eight  years  before 
to  America,  with  no  capital  but  his  strong  arms 
and  energetic  spirit,  was  yet  able  to  give  the 
bright  and  studious  boy  a  good  collegiate  educa 
tion  at  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  where  he 
graduated  in  1809.  He  then  began  the  study  of 
law  at  Lancaster,  and,  after  a  three  years'  course, 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  1812.  He  rose  rap 
idly  in  his  profession,  the  business  of  which  in 
creased  with  his  reputation,  so  that,  at  the  age  of 
forty,  he  was  enabled  to  retire  with  an  ample 
fortune. 

Mr.  Buchanan  early  entered  into  politics. 
When  but  twenty-three  years  old,  he  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania.  Though  an 
avowed  Federalist,  he  not  only  spoke  in  favor  of 
a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  War  "of  1812,  but 
likewise  marched  as  a  privatef  soldier  to  the  de 
fense  of  Baltimore.  In  1820,  he  was  elected  to 
the  lower  House  of  Congress,  where  he  speedily 
attained  eminence  as  a  finished  and  energetic 
speaker.  His  political  views  are  shown  in  the 
following  extract  from  one  of  his  speeches  in 

Congress  :  "  If  I  know  myself,  I  am  a  politician 

C 


JAMES  B  UCHANAN.  507 

neither  of  the  West  nor  the  East,  of  the  North  nor 
of  the  South.  I  therefore  shall  forever  avoid  any 
expressions  the  direct  tendency  of  which  must  be 
to  create  sectional  jealousies,  and  at  length  dis 
union—that  worst  of  all  political  calamities." 
That  he  sincerely  endeavored  in  his  future  career 
to  act  in  accordance  with  the  principles  here 
enunciated  no  candid  mind  can  doubt,  however 
much  he  may  be  regarded  to  have  failed  in  doing 
so,  especially  during  the  eventful  last  months  of 
his  Administration. 

In  1831,  at  the  close  of  his  fifth  term,  Mr.  Bu 
chanan,  having  declined  a  re-election  to  Congress, 
was  sent  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  St.  Peters- 
burg,  where  he  concluded  the  first  commercial 
treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Russia. 
On  his  return  home  in  1833,  he  was  elected  to 
the  National  Senate.  Here  he  became  one  of 
the  leading  spirits  among  the  supporters  of  Presi 
dent  Jackson,  and  also  supported  the  Administra 
tion  of  Martin  Van  Buren.  He  was  re-elected 
to  the  Senate,  and  his  last  act  as  a  Senator  was 
to  report  favorably  on  the  admission  of  Texas, 
he  being  the  only  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations  to  do  so. 

On  the  election  of  Polk  to  the  Presidency,  in 
1845,  Mr.  Buchanan  was  selected  to  fill  the  im 
portant  position  of  Secretary  of  State.  He 
strongly  opposed  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso,"  and  all 
pther  provisions  for  the  restriction  of  slavery. 


Cjo8  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

At  the  close  of  Folk's  term,  he  withdrew  to  private 
life,  but  was  subsequently  sent  by  President 
Pierce  as  our  Minister  to  England.  It  was  while 
acting"  in  this  capacity  that  he  united  with  Mason 
and  Soule  in  the  once  celebrated  "  Ostend  Mani 
festo,"  in  which  strong  ground  was  taken  in  favor 
of  the  annexation  of  Cuba  to  the  United  States, 
by  purchase,  if  possible,  but  if  necessary,  by  force. 

Returning  home  in  1856,  he  was  nominated  as 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
and,  after  a  stormy  campaign,  elected,  receiving 
one  hundred  and  seventy-four  out  of  three  hun 
dred  and  three  electoral  votes.  His  opponents 
were  John  C.  Fremont,  Republican,  and  Millard 
Fillmore,  American.  He  was  inaugurated  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1857.  With  the  exception  of  a  slight 
difficulty  with  the  Mormons  in  Utah,  and  of  the 
admission  into  the  Union  of  Minnesota  in  1858, 
and  of  Oregon  in  1859,  the  chief  interest  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  Administration  centered  around  the 
slavery  controversy. 

At  the  time  of  his  inauguration,  it  is  true,  the 
country  looked  confidently  forward  to  a  period  of 
political  quiet.  But,  unhappily,  the  Kansas  diffi 
culty  had  not  been  settled.  The  Free-State  party 
in  that  territory  refused  obedience  to  the  laws 
passed  by  the  local  Legislature,  on  the  grounds 
that  that  Legislature  had  been  elected  by  fraudu 
lent  means.  They  even  chose  a  rival  Legislature, 
which,  however,  the  President  refused  to  recog- 


JAMES  BUCHANAN'.  c,^a 

J  -> 

nize.  Meanwhile  the  so-called  regular  Legislature, 
which  Congress  had  sanctioned,  passed  a  bill  for 
the  election  of  delegates  by  the  people  to  frame  a 
State  Constitution  for  Kansas.  An  election  was 
accordingly  held;  the  Convention  met,  and  after  a 
stormy  and  protracted  session,  completed  its  work. 
The  Lecompton  Constitution,  as  it  was  called,  when 
laid  before  Congress,  met  with  strong  opposition 
from  the  Republicans,  on  the  ground  that  it  had 
been  fraudulently  concocted.  The  President,  how 
ever,  gave  it  all  his  influence,  believing  that  it 
would  bring  peace  to  the  country,  while  not  pre 
venting  Kansas  from  being  a  free  State,  should  its 
people  so  desire ;  and  finally,  after  a  struggle  of 
extraordinary  violence  and  duration,  it  received 
the  sanction  of  Congress. 

But  quiet  was  not  restored.  In  the  North,  the 
feeling  against  the  President  and  his  party  be 
came  intense.  The  election  in  1860  resulted  in 
the  triumph  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Republican 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  The  period  between 
Lincoln's  election  and  his  inauguration  was  one 
of  peculiar  trial  to  President  Buchanan.  An  at 
tempt  to  incite  a  slave  insurrection,  made  at  Har 
per's  Ferry,  in  1859,  by  John  Brown,  of  Kansas,  for 
which  he  was  hanged  by  the  authorities  of  Virginia, 
had  created  a  profound  sensation  in  the  South, 
where  it  was  regarded  by  many  as  indicative  of 
the  fixed  purpose  of  the  North  to  destroy  slavery 
at  all  hazards.  The  election  of  Lincoln  following 


e;iO  OURFORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

so  soon  after  this  event,  added  strength  to  their 
apprehensions.  As  soon  as  the  result  of  the 
canvass  became  known,  South  Carolina  seceded 
from  the  Union.  Mr.  Buchanan,  apparently  re 
garding  the  fears  and  complaints  of  the  South 
as  not  without  some  just  grounds,  seems  to  have 
endeavored  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  solution  of 
the  difficulties  before  him  by  attempts  at  concilia 
tion.  But  however  good  his  intentions  may  have 
been,  his  policy,  which  has  been  characterized  as 
weak,  vacillating,  and  cowardly,  so  signally  failed, 
that  when,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  he  retired 
from  the  Presidency,  he  handed  over  to  his  suc 
cessor  an  almost  hopelessly  divided  Union,  from 
which  seven  States  had  already  seceded. 

Mr.  Buchanan  also  used  his  influence  for  the 
purchase  of  Cuba  as  a  means  of  extending  slave 
territory.  He  permitted  the  seizure  of  Southern 
forts  and  arsenals,  and  the  removal  of  muskets 
from  Northern  to  Southern  armories  as  the  seces 
sion  movements  matured,  and  in  his  message  of 
December,  1860,  he  directly  cast  upon  the  North 
the  blame  of  the  disrupted  Union. 

Remaining  in  Washington  long  enough  to  wit 
ness  the  installation  of  Mr.  Lincoln,"  Mr.  Buch 
anan  withdrew  to  the  privacy  of  Wheatland,  his 
country  home,  near  Lancaster,  in  Pennsylvania. 
Here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  taking 
no  prominent  part  in  public  affairs.  In  1866,  ha 
published  a  volume  entitled,  Mr.  Buchanans^ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  c  l  1 

Administration,  in  which  he  explained  and  de 
fended  the  policy  he  had  pursued  while  in  the 
Presidential  office.  He  never  married.  His  death 
occurred  at  his  mansion  at  Wheatland,  on  the  ist 
of  June,  1868 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

SIXTEENTH  President  of  the  Union,  was 
born  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  on  the 
1 2th  of  February,  1809.  His  parents  were 
extremely  poor,  and  could  give  him  but  scant 
opportunities  of  education.  It  is  supposed  that 
his  ancestors  came  to  this  country  from  England 
among  the  original  followers  of  William  Penn. 
About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  they  lived  in 
Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  whence  one  branch 
of  the  family  moved  to  Virginia.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  taught  to  read  and  write  by  his 
mother,  a  woman  of  intelligence  far  above  her 
humble  station.  When  he  was  in  his  eighth  year, 
the  family  removed  to  the  then  wilderness  of 
Spencer  County,  Indiana,  where,  in  the  course  of 
three  or  four  years,  the  boy  Abraham,  who  was 
quick  and  eager  to  learn,  had  a  chance  to  acquire 
the  rudiments  of  the  more  ordinary  branches  oi 
such  a  common-school  education  as  was  to  be 
obtained  in  that  rude  frontier  district;  but  his 
mother  died  when  he  was  about  eleven  years  old, 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

which  was  to  him  a  sad  loss.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen,  he  set  out  in  a  flat-boat,  containing  a  cargo 
of  considerable  value,  on  a  voyage  to  New  Or 
leans.  While  passing  down  the  Mississippi,  they 
were  attacked  by  a  thieving  band  of  negroes,  but 
they  courageously  beat  off  the  robbers,  and  suc 
ceeded  in  reaching  their  destination  safely. 

In  1830,  Lincoln's  father  removed  to  Decatur 
County,  Illinois.  Here  Abraham  assisted  in  estab 
lishing  the  new  home.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  he  split  the  famous  rails  from  which,  years 
after,  he  received  his  name  of  "the  rail-splitter." 
During  the  severe  winter  which  followed,  by  his 
exertions  and  skill  as  a  hunter,  he  contributed 
greatly  in  keeping  the  family  from  starvation. 
The  next  two  years  he  passed  through  as  a  farm 
hand  and  as  a  clerk  in  a  country  store.  In  the 
Black-Hawk  War,  which  broke  out  in  1832,  he 
served  creditably  as  a  volunteer,  and  on  his  re 
turn  home  ran  for  the  Legislature,  but  was  de 
feated.  He  next  tried  store-keeping,  but  failed ; 
and  then,  having  learned  something  of  surveying, 
worked  two  or  three  years  quite  successfully  as  a 
surveyor  for  the  Government.  In  1834,  he  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature,  in  which  he  did  the  ex 
tremely  unpopular  act  of  recording  his  name 
against  some  pro-slavery  legislation  of  that  body. 
He  soon  after  took  up  the  study  of  law,  being  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar  in  1837,  when  he  removed  to 
Springfield,  and  began  to  practice.  John  T.  Stuart 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


513 


was  his  business  partner.  In  1842,  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Todcl,  daughter  of  Robert  S.  Todd, 
Esq.,  of  Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  rose  rapidly 
in  his  profession,  to  which  having  served  a  second 
term  in  the  Legislature,  he  devoted  himself  assidu 
ously  till  1844,  during  which  year  he  canvassed 
the  State  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Clay,  the  Whig  candi 
date  for  the  Presidency.  In  1847,  he  took  his  seat 
in  the  lower  house  of  Congress,  where  he  was  the 
only  Whig  from  the  whole  State  of  Illinois.  Ser 
ving  but  a  single  term  in  Congress,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  1848,  canvassed  the  State  for  General  Taylor, 
and  the  following  year  was  an  unsuccessful  can 
didate  for  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
He  now  renewed  his  devotion  to  his  legal  pur 
suits,  yet  still  retained  a  deep  interest  in  national 
politics. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  which 
created  a  profound  sensation  throughout  the 
entire  North,  brought  about  a  complete  political 
revolution  in  Illinois,  and  the  State  went  over  to 
the  Whigs.  In  this  revolution  Mr.  Lincoln  took 
a  most  active  part,  and  gained  a  wide  reputation 
as  an  effective  stump  speaker.  In  1856,  he  was 
brought  prominently  before  the  first  Republican 
National  Convention,  and  came  very  near  being 
nominated  as  its  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 
In  1858,  as  Republican  candidate  for  United 
States  Senator,  he  canvassed  Illinois  in  opposition 
to  Judge  Douglas,  the  Democratic  nominee, 

33 


5  T  4  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

Douglas  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  effective, 
public  speakers  of  the  time,  yet  it  is  generally 
conceded  that  Lincoln,  though  he  failed  to  obtain 
the  Senatorship,  was  fully  equal  to  his  distin 
guished  and  no  doubt  more  polished  opponent. 
The  rare  versatility  and  comprehensiveness  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  mind  found  full  illustration  in  this 
exciting  contest. 

During  the  next  eighteen  months,  Mr.  Lincoln 
visited  various  parts  of  the  country,  delivering 
speeches  of  marked  ability  and  power ;  and  when, 
in  May,  1860,  the  Republican  National  Conven 
tion  met  at  Chicago,  he  was,  on  the  third  ballot, 
chosen  as  its  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  In 
consequence  of  a  division  in  the  Democratic  party, 
he  was  elected,  receiving  one  hundred  and  eighty 
out  of  three  hundred  and  three  electoral  votes. 
In  the  popular  vote  the  result  was  as  follows : 
Lincoln,  1,887,610;  Douglas,  1,291,574;  Brecken- 
ridge,  Pro-slavery  Democrat,  880,082  ;  Bell,  Con 
stitutional-Union  party,  646,124:  thus  leaving 
Lincoln  in  the  minority  of  the  popular  vote  by 
nearly  a  million. 

The  election  of  Lincoln  was  at  once  made  a 
pretext  for  dissolving  the  Union.  Though  he  had 
repeatedly  declared  his  intention  not  to  interfere 
with  the  existing  institutions  of  the  South,  and  to 
hold  inviolate  his  official  oath  to  maintain  the 
Constitution,  all  was  of  no  avail  to  dissuade  that 
section  from  its  predetermined  purpose.  A 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLtf.  r  2  r 

month  before  he  was  inaugurated  six  Southern 
States,  having  solemnly  withdrawn  from  the 
Union,  met  in  convention  and  framed  the  Consti 
tution  of  a  new  and  independent  Confederacy. 

The  President-elect  left  his  home  in  Springfield 
on  the  nth  of  February,  1861,  and  proceeded  by 
a  somewhat  circuitous  route  to  Washington,  de 
livering  short,  pithy  addresses  in  the  larger 
towns  and  cities  through  which  he  passed.  He 
also  visited  the  Legislatures  of  several  North 
ern  States,  everywhere  reiterating  his  purpose, 
while  not  disturbing  the  domestic  relations  of 
the  South,  to  maintain  the  Union  intact  at  all 
hazards.  Though  informed  at  Philadelphia 
that  a  plot  had  been  formed  for  his  assassination 
in  Baltimore,  he  reached  Washington  on  Feb 
ruary  23d  without  molestation,  and  on  the  4th 
of  March  was  duly  inaugurated  in  the  presence 
of  an  immense  assemblage  from  all  parts  of  the 
country. 

In  his  inaugural  address  the  new  President,  as 
suring  the  people  of  the  South  that  he  had  taken 
the  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  unreservedly, 
and  that  there  were  no  grounds  for  any  fear  that 
"  their  property,"  peace,  or  persons  were  to  be 
endangered,  declared  it  to  be  his  firm  intention 
to  execute  the  laws,  collect  duties  and  imposts, 
and  to  hold  the  public  properties  in  all  the 
States — with  no  bloodshed,  however,  unless  it 
should  be  forced  upon  the  national  authority. 


5  I  6  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

On  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  Mr. 
Lincoln  found  the  condition  of  affairs  far  from 
encouraging.  Seven  States  had  already  with 
drawn  from  the  Union,  and  others  were  preparing 
to  follow  their  example.  The  credit  of  the  Gov 
ernment  was  low ;  the  army  and  navy  not  only 
small  and  inefficient,  but  scattered  all  through  our 
wide  domain  ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  public 
arms,  through  the  treachery  of  certain  officials, 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  seceded  States. 
Still,  he  was  hopeful  and  buoyant,  and  believed 
that  the  pending  difficulties  would  soon  be  ad 
justed.  Even  when,  on  the  I4th*of  April,  1861, 
the  bombardment  and  capture  of  Fort  Sumter  by 
a  Confederate  Army  roused  the  North  to  intense 
action,  though  he  immediately  issued  a  call  for 
75,000  volunteers,  it  was  seemingly  with  but  a 
faint  idea  that  they  would  be  needed.  The  fact 
that  they  were  summoned  for  only  three  months — 
a  period  far  from  long  enough  for  the  organization 
of  so  large  a  body  of  men — is  of  itself  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  delusion  under  which  he  was 
laboring. 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run,  on  the  2ist  of  July, 
1861,  which  resulted  in  the  total  route  of  the 
Government  forces,  in  a  great  measure  dispelled 
this  delusion.  The  real  magnitude  of  the  contest 
now  began  to  show  itself  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Yet 
his  courage  never  faltered,  nor  was  he  less  hope 
ful  of  the  final  triumph  of  the  Union.  Cheerfully 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  5 1  7 

accepting  the  burden  of  cares  and  responsibilities 
so  suddenly  thrown  upon  him,  he  put  his  whole 
heart  in  the  work  before  him,  and  not  even  the 
disasters  of  1862,  that  gloomiest  year  of  the  war, 
could  for  a  moment  shake  his  confiding  spirit. 
People  were  not  wanting  who  found  fault  with  the 
buoyant  temper  he  displayed  at  that  period  ;  but 
his  apparent  cheeriness  was  of  as  much  avail  as 
our  armies  in  bringing  about  the  triumph  which 
at  last  came. 

Of  the  struggle  which  resulted  in  this  triumph 
we  shall  give  no  details,  only  referring  briefly  to 
some  of  the  more  important  actions  of  the  Presi 
dent.  The  most  momentous  of  these,  without 
doubt,  was  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  issued 
on  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  and  to  take  effect 
on  the  ist  of  January,  1863,  by  which  slavery  was 
at  once  and  forever  done  away  with  in  the  United 
States.  In  his  message  to  Congress,  the  Presi 
dent  thus  explains  this  act:  "  In  giving  freedom 
to  the  slave  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free,  hon 
orable  alike  in  what  We  give  and  what  we  pre 
serve.  We  shall  nobly  save,  or  meanly  lose,  the 
last,  best  hope  of  earth.  *  *  *  The  way  is 
plain,  peaceful,  glorious,  just — a  way  which,  if 
followed,  the  world  will  forever  applaud  and  God 
must  forever  bless." 

In  1864,  by  a  respectable  majority  in  the  popu 
lar  vote  and  a  large  one  in  the  electoral  college, 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  re-elected  to  the  Presidency. 


518  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

At  the  period  of  his  second  inauguration,  the 
complete  triumph  of  the  Federal  authority  over 
the  seceded  States  was  assured.  The  last  battles 
of  the  war  had  been  fought.  War  had  substan 
tially  ceased.  The  President  was  looking  forward 
to  the  more  congenial  work  of  pacification.  How 
he  designed  to  carry  out  this  work  we  may  judge 
from  the  following  passage  in  his  second  inaugu 
ral  :  "  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity 
for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us 
to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work 
we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  to  care 
for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for 
his  widow  and  his  orphans,  to  do  all  that  may 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace 
among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

Unfortunately,  the  kind-hearted  Lincoln  was 
not  to  carry  out  the  work  of  pacification  to  which 
he  looked  forward  with  such  bright  anticipations. 
But  a  little  more  than  a  month  after  his  second 
inauguration — on  the  night  of  the  I4th  of  April, 
1865 — John  Wilkes  Booth,  one  of  a  small  band 
of  desperate  conspirators,  as  insanely  foolish  as 
they  were  wicked,  fired  a  pistol-ball  into  the  brain 
of  the  President  as  he  satin  his  box  at  the  theatre. 
The  wound  proved  fatal  in  a  few  hours,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  never  recovering  his  consciousness. 

The  excitement  which  the  assassination  of  the 
President  occasioned  was  most  intense.  The 
whole  country  was  in  tears.  Nor  was  this  grief 


ANDRE  W  J  O  HNS  ON.  c  i  9 

confined  to  our  own  people.  England,  France, 
3.11  Europe,  and  even  the  far-off  countries  of  China 
and  Japan,  joined  in  the  lamentation.  Never  was 
man  more  universally  mourned,  or  more  deserv 
ing  of  such  widespread  sorrow. 

The  funeral  honors  were  grand  and  imposing. 
His  body,  having  been  embalmed,  was  taken  to 
his  home  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  passing  through 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Albany,  Buf 
falo,  Cleveland,  Chicago,  and  other  large  towns 
and  cities.  The  entire  road  seemed  to  be  lined 
with  mourners,  while  in  the  chief  cities  the  funeral 
ceremonies  were  equally  solemn  and  magniiicent. 


ANDREW   JOHNSON, 

THE  constitutional  successor  to  President 
Lincoln,  was  born  in  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  De 
cember  29th,  1808.  Prevented  by  the 
poverty  of  his  parents  from  receiving  any  school 
ing,  he  was  apprenticed,  at  the  age  of  ten,  to  a 
tailor.  On  the  expiration  of  his  apprenticeship, 
he  went  to  Greenville,  Tenn.,  where  he  married. 
By  his  wife  he  was  taught  to  write  and  to  cipher, 
having  already  learned  to  read.  Taking  consid 
erable  interest  in  local  politics,  he  formed  a  work- 
ingman's  party  in  the  town,  by  which  he  was 
elected  alderman,  and  afterward  Mayor.  In 
,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislature 


52O  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

Failing  of  re-election  in  1837,  he  was  again  suc 
cessful  in  1839;  and  in  1841,  was  elected  to  the 
State  Senate.  His  ability  was  now  recognized 
and,  in  1843,  he  was  sent  to  Congress  as  a  Rep 
resentative  of  the  Democratic  party.  Having 
served  five  successive  terms  in  Congress,  he  was, 
in  1853,  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee,  and 
again  in  1855.  Two  years  later,  he  was  called 
upon  to  represent  Tennessee  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  where  he  speedily  rose  to  distinction  as  a 
man  of  great  native  energy.  The  free  homestead 
bill,  giving  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  the 
public  land  to  every  citizen  who  would  settle  upon 
it  and  cultivate  it  a  certain  number  of  years,  owes 
its  passage  to  his  persistent  advocacy.  On  the 
slavery  question  he  generally  went  with  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  accepting  slavery  as  an  existing 
institution,  protected  by  the  Constitution. 

In  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1860,  Mr.  John 
son  was  a  supporter  of  Breckinridge,  but  took 
strong  grounds  against  secession  when  that  sub 
ject  came  up.  His  own  State  having  voted  itself 
out  of  the  Union,  it  was  at  the  peril  of  his  life 
that  he  returned  home  in  1861.  Attacked  by  a 
mob  on  a  railroad  car,  he  boldly  faced  his  assail 
ants,  pistol  in  hand,  and  they  slunk  away.  On 
the  4th  of  March,  1862,  he  was  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  Tennessee.  He  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office  with  a  courage  and  vigor  that 
noon  emfei-rely  reversed  the  condition  of  affairs  in 


ANDRE  W  JOHNSON.  5  2  I 

the  State.  By  March,  1864,  he  had  so  far  restored 
order  that  elections  were  held  for  State  and 
County  officers,  and  the  usual  machinery  of  civil 
government  was  once  more  set  in  motion. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  Mr.  Johnson  was 
inaugurated  as  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States.  The  assassination  of  President  Lincoln, 
a  little  more  than  a  month  afterward,  placed  him 
in  the  vacant  chief  executive  chair.  Though  Mr. 
Johnson  made  no- distinct  pledges,  it  was  thought 
by  the  tone  of  his  inaugural  that  he  would  pursue 
a  severe  course  toward  the  seceded  States.  Yet 
the  broad  policy  of  restoration  he  finally  adopted, 
met  the  earnest  disapproval  of  the  great  party  by 
which  he  had  been  elected.  The  main  point  at 
issue  was,  "  whether  the  seceded  States  should 
be  at  once  admitted  to  representation  in  Congress, 
and  resume  all  the  rights  they  had  enjoyed  before 
the  Civil  War,  without  further  guarantees  than  the 
surrender  of  their  armies,  and  with  no  provision 
for  protecting  the  emancipated  blacks." 

Johnson,  opposed  to  making  any  restrictive 
conditions,  therefore  persistently  vetoed  the  vari 
ous  reconstructive  measures  adopted  by  Congress. 
Though  these  measures  were  finally  passed  over 
the  President's  vetoes  by  two-thirds  of  the  votes 
of  each  house,  yet  his  determined  opposition  to 
their  policy,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  unconsti 
tutional,  gave  Congress  great  offense.  This  feeling 
finally  became  so  intense,  that  the  House  of  Rep  re- 


522 


OU11  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


sentatives  brought  articles  of  impeachment  against 
him.  The  trial — the  first  of  its  kind  known  in  our 
history — was  conducted  by  the  United  States 
Senate,  presided  over  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  The  impeachment  failed,  how 
ever,  yet  only  lacked  one  vote  of  the  two-thirds 
majority  requisite  to  the  President's  conviction. 

In  1866,  Mr.  Johnson  made  a  tour  to  Chicago, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  made  many  petty 
speeches,  which  brought  upon,  him  both  censure 
and  ridicule,  but  he  was  regarded  as  politically 
harmless,  and  to  the  close  of  his  term,  March  4th, 
1869,  he  was  allowed  to  pursue  his  own  policy 
with  but  little  opposition.  Retiring  to  his  home 
at  Greenville,  he  began  anew  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  politics  of  his  State.  It  required  sev 
eral  years,  however,  for  him  to  regain  anything 
like  his  earlier  popularity  ;  but  finally,  in  January, 
1875,  he  succeeded  in  securing  his  election  once 
more  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  but 
he  died  on  the  3Oth  of  the  following  July. 


ULYSSES   S.  GRANT. 

HISTORY  has  recorded    few  instances   of 
the  rapid  and  unexpected  rise  of  individ 
uals  in  humble  circumstances  to  the  high 
est  positions,  more  remarkable  than  that  afforded 
by  the  .Ufe  of  Ulysses  S,  'Grant,  the  eighteenth 


UL  VSSES  S.  GRANT.  «•->-> 

o "~  o 

President  of  the  United  States.  He  was  the  son 
of  Jesse  R.  and  Hannah  Simpson  Grant,  both  na 
tives-  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  born  April  27th, 
1822,  at  Point  Pleasant,  Clermont  Courjty,  Ohio. 
His  early  education  was  merely  that  of  the  com 
mon  schools  of  his  day.  By  a  conjunction  of 
favoring  circumstances,  he  passed,  in  1839,  from 
the  bark  mill  of  his  father's  tannery  to  the  Mili 
tary  Academy  at  West  Point.  He  was  a  diligent 
but  not  distinguished  student.  Having  graduated 
in  1843,  the  twenty-first  in  a  class  of  thirty-nine,  he 
signalized  himself  by  his  bravery  in  the  Mexican 
War,  being  rewarded  therefor  by  a  captain's  com 
mission.  He  then  married  Miss  Julia  J.  Dent,  of 
Saint  Louis,  and,  after  spending  several  years  with 
his  regiment  in  California  and  Oregon,  left  the 
service  in  July,  1854,  tried  farming  and  the  real 
estate  business  with  moderate  success,  and  finally 
was  taken  by  his  father  as  a  partner  in  his  leather 
store  at  Galena. 

He  was  yet  thus  humbly  employed  when  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  issued  his  call  for  75,000  three 
months'  men.  Marching  to  Springfield  at  the 
head  of  a  company  of  volunteers,  his  military 
knowledge  made  him  exceedingly  useful  to  Gov 
ernor  Yates,  who  retained  him  as  mustering  officer, 
until  he  was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  Twenty- 
first  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers,  on  the  1 7th  of 
June,  1861.  The  following  August,  having  been 
made  ;a  brigadier-general,  he  took  command  atCai- 


*UR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

ro,  where  he  displayed  much  activity  and  attracted 
some  attention.  On  the  7th  of  November  he 
fought  the  Battle  of  Belmont,  where  he  had  a 
horse  shot  under  him.  His  capture  of  Fort  Don- 
elson,  with  all  its  defenders,  on  the  i5th  of  Febru 
ary,  1862,  after  a  severe  battle  resulting  in  the  first 
real  and  substantial  triumph  of  the  war,  at  once 
gave  Grant  a  national  reputation.  For  this  bril 
liant  victory  he  was  immediately  rewarded  by  a 
commission  as  major-general  of  volunteers. 

Soon  after  the  capture  of  Donelson,  General 
Grant  was  placed  in  command  of  an  important 
expedition  up  the  Tennessee  River.  At  Pittsburg 
Landing,  while  preparing  for  an  attack  on  Corinth, 
a  part  of  his  army  was  surprised,  at  daybreak  of 
the  6th  of  April,  by  an  overwhelming  force  of 
Confederates,  and  driven  from  their  camp  with 
severe  loss.  Rallying  his  men  that  evening  under 
the  protection  of  the  gun-boats,  Grant,  having 
been  reinforced  during  the  night,  renewed  the 
battle  the  following  morning,  and,  after  an  obsti 
nate  contest,  compelled  the  enemy  to  fall  back 
upon  Corinth. 

In  July,  General  Grant  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  Department  of  West  Tennessee,  with  his 
headquarters  at  Corinth,  which  the  Confederates 
had  evacuated  in  the  previous  May.  On  the  igth 
of  September  he  gained  a  complete  victory  over 
the  Confederates  at  luka,  and  then  removed  his 
headquarters  to  Jackson,  Tennessee.  Vicksburg, 


UL YSSES  S.  GRANT.  525 

on  the  Mississippi,  having  been  strongly  fortified 
and  garrisoned  by  the  enemy,  the  duty  of  taking 
that  place  devolved  upon  Grant.  After  several 
attempts  against  it  from  the  north,  all  of  which 
resulted  more  or  less  disastrously,  he  finally 
moved  his  army  down  the  west  bank  of  the  river, 
and,  crossing  to  the  east  side,  at  a  point  below  the 
city,  began,  on  the  i8th  of  May,  1863,  a  formal 
siege,  which  lasted  until  the  4th  of  the  ensuing 
July,  when  the  place  was  surrendered,  with  nearly 
thirty  thousand  prisoners  and  an  immense  amount 
of  military  stores. 

Grant's  capture  of  Vicksburg,  the  result  of  that 
tenacity  of  purpose  which  is  a  marked  trait  in  his 
character,  was  hailed  with  unbounded  delight  by 
the  whole  country.  He  was  immediately  commis 
sioned  a  major-general  in  the  regular  army,  and 
placed  in  command  of  the  entire  military  Division 
of  the  Mississippi.  Congress  also,  meeting  in 
December,  ordered  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  for 
him,  and  passed  resolutions  of  thanks  to  him  and 
his  army.  Still  further,  a  bill  reviving  the  grade 
of  lieutenant-general  was  passed,  and,  on  the  ist 
of  March,  1864,  Grant  was  appointed  by  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  to  the  position  thus  created. 

Having  now  been  placed  at  the  head  of  an 
army  of  seven  hundred  thousand  men,  Grant, 
announcing  that  his  headquarters  would  be  in  the 
field,  "  at  once  planned  two  movements,  to  be  di 
rected  simultaneously  against  vital  points  of  the 


MRMJLK 

Confederacy."  One  of  these,  with  Richmond  foi 
its  point  of  attack,  he  commanded  in  person  ;  the 
other,  against  Atlanta,  in  Georgia,  was  headed  by 
General  Sherman. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  Grant  began  the  movement 
against  Richmond,  crossing  the  Rapidan,  and 
pushing  determinedly  into  the  "  Wilderness," 
where,  met  by  Lee,  a  bloody  battle  was  fought, 
foiling  his  first  attempt  to  place  himself  between 
the  Confederate  Army  and  their  threatened  capi 
tal.  Advancing  by  the  left  flank,  he  was  again 
confronted  by  Lee  at  Spottsylvania,  and  com 
pelled  to  make  another  flank  movement,  resulting 
in  his  again  being  brought  to  a  stand  by  his  wary 
antagonist.  Declarino-  his  determination  "  to 

&  o 

fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  took  him  all  summer," 
Grant  still  pushed  on  by  a  series  of  flank  move 
ments,  each  culminating  in  a  sanguinary  battle, 
in  which  his  losses  were  fearful,  and  finally,  pass 
ing  Richmond  on  the  east,  crossed  the  James, 
and  laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Petersburg,  the  cap 
ture  of  which  now  became  the  great  problem  of 
the  war. 

Grant  crossed  the  James  on  the  I5th  of  June, 
1864.-  It  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  April, 
1865,  after  a  series  of  desperate  assaults,  coming 
to  a  crisis  in  the  battle  of  Five  Forks,  in  which 
Grant  gained  a  crowning  triumph,  that  Peters 
burg  finally  succumbed.  The  fall  of  Petersburg 
compelled  Lee  to  evacuate  Richmond  with  the 


Vt  YSS£S  S.  GRANT.  527 

meagre  remnant  of  his  army.  He  retreated 
westward  toward  Danville,  followed  closely  by 
Grant.  At  the  same  time  Sherman,  who  had  met 
with  almost  unparalleled  success  in  his  part  of  the 
concerted  movement,  was  marching  triumphantly 
through  Alabama  and  Georgia  to  the  sea-coast, 
along  which  he  swept  northward,  and  was  threat 
ening  Lee  from  another  quarter,  so  that,  placed 
between  two  large  armies,  both  flushed  with  vic 
tory,  no  other  resource  was  left  him  than  to  sur 
render  the  thin  remnant  of  his  force.  This  he 
did,  to  Grant,  at  Appomattox  Court-House,  on  the 
9th  of  April,  1865,  and  the  "Great  Rebellion  "  was 
thus  virtually  brought  to  a  close. 

On  the' conclusion  of  the  war,  Grant  made 
Washington  his  headquarters,  and  was,  in  July, 
1 366,  commissioned  General  of  the  United  States 
Army — a  rank  which  had  been  specially  created 
to  do  him  honor.  In  August,  1867,  he  for  awhile 
acted  as  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim  under 
President  Johnson  ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  lat 
ter' s  earnest  request  to  the  contrary,  he,  when  the 
Senate  refused  to  sanction  Stanton's  removal, 
restored  the  position  to  that  gentleman,  from 
whom  it  had  been  taken. 

In  the  Republican  National  Convention,  held  at 
Chicago,  on  the  2ist  of  May,  1868,  General  Grant 
was  on  the  first  ballot  unanimously  nominated  as 
the  candidate  of  that  party  for  the  Presidency. 
His  Democratic  competitor  was  Horatio  Sey- 


528  0  UR'  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

mour,  of  New  York.  The  election  resulted  in 
Grant  receiving  two  hundred  and  fourteen  out  of 
two  hundred  and  ninety-four  electoral  votes.  He 
was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March,  1869. 
Though  brought  into  conflict  with  some  of  the 
prominent  men  of  his  party  by  his  determined 
effort  to  bring  about  the  annexation  of  San  Do 
mingo  to  the  United  States,  President  Grant's 
first  official  term  gave  satisfaction  to  the  mass  of 
his  Republican  adherents.  During  the  first  six 
months  of  his  term  the  public  debt  was  reduced 
some  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  order  and  prosper 
ity  were  rapidly  restored  throughout  the  Southern 
States,  and  the  hatred  and  animosities  of  the  war 
were  greatly  softened,  though  Grant's  firmness  in 
many  instances  had  begotten  severe  opposition. 

In  their  National  Convention  at  Philadelphia, 
on  the  5th  of  June,  1872,  he  was  nominated  by 
acclamation  for  a  second  term.  His  opponent  in 
this  contest  was  Horace  Greeley,  who  was  sup 
ported  by  both  the  Democrats  and  the  so-called 
Liberal  Republicans.  The  election  resulted  in 
the  success  of  General  Grant,  who  received  two 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  out  of  the  three  hundred 
and  forty-eight  electoral  votes  cast.  He  was  in 
augurated  a  second  time  on  the  4th  of  March, 

1873- 

Grant's  second  term  was  one  of  improving 
prospects,  though  the  transitions  from  the  exces 
sive  inflations  attendant  on  the  war  to  the  solid 


UL  YSSE?  S.  GRANT.  c  2  g 

business  basis  of  peace  made  financial  affairs  un 
steady  and  led  to  the  famous  panic  of  '73.  But 
prosperity  returned  gradually  and  on  a  more  solid 
basis,  and  the  great  Centennial  Exposition  of  1876, 
at  Philadelphia,  was  a  fitting  crown  upon  the  final 
year  of  Grant's  eight  years  of  Presidential  work 
and  honor.  In  his  last  message  to  Congress 
he  urged  compulsory  common-school  education 
where  other  means  of  education  are  not  provided; 
the  exclusion  of  all  sectarianism  from  public 
schools;  the  prohibition  of  voting,  after  1890,  to 
all  persons  unable  to  read  and  write ;  the  perma 
nent  separation  of  Church  and  State;  entire  reli 
gious  freedom  for  all  sects,  and  legislation  to 
speedily  secure  a  return  to  sound  currency. 

General  Grant  was  strongly  urged  to  accept 
the  nomination  for  a  third  term,  but  declined  the 
honor  and  retired  to  private  life,  March  4th,  1877. 
After  his  long-continued  public  service,  an  ex 
tended  trip  abroad  was  deemed  desirable  by  the 
General.  Arrangements  were  matured  accord- 

o 

ingly,  and  on  May  I7th,  1877,  he  sailed  from  Phila 
delphia  in  the  steamer  Indiana.  His  journey  was 
prosperous  in  every  respect.  He  made  the  tour 
of  the  world  and  reached  San  Francisco  Septem 
ber  2Oth,  1879.  Everywhere  he  was  the  recipient 
of  the  highest  honors.  The  most  distinguished 
crowned  heads  and  military  leaders  of  all  nations 
were  proud  to  do  him  honor,  and  he  in  return  did 
many  personal  friendly  offices  which  were  most 

34 


530  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

gratefully  recognized.  He  finally  settled  in  New 
York  city,  where  fatal  sickness  overtook  him,  and 
he  died  July  23d,  1885. 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES. 

RUTHERFORD  BIRCHARD  HAYES, 
the  nineteenth  incumbent  of  the  Presiden 
tial  chair,  was  born  at  Delaware,  Ohio, 
.  October  4th,  1822.  He  enjoyed  the  most  favorable 
surroundings  of  refinement  and  culture  in  his 
youth,  and  graduated  at  Kenyon  College  in  1842. 
In  1845,  he  graduated  from  the  Harvard  Law 
School  and  began  practice  in  Fremont,  Ohio, 
from  which  place  he  removed  to  Cincinnati  in  1849. 
He  served  as  City  Solicitor  for  several  years, 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  when  he  took 
the  field  as  major  of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Volun 
teers.  He  had  a  splendid  record,  rising  to  the  com 
mand  of  a  division,  being  breveted  major-general, 
and  continuing  until  June  ist,  1865,  when  he  re 
signed  his  rank  and  returned  to  Cincinnati. 

In  December,  1865,  he  entered  Congress,  to 
which  he  had  been  elected  before  he  left  the  army. 
He  was  re-elected  to  this  position,  but  resigned 
to  become  Governor  of  Ohio,  to  which  office  he 
was  three  times  chosen,  an  honor  never  before 
conferred  in  that  State.  The  prominent  issues  in 
his  last  campaign  for  the  Governorship  were  the 


RUTHERFORD  £.  HAYES. 

currency  and  the  school  questions.  So  satis 
factory  were  his  views  on  these  measures,  that  he 
received  much  favorable  mention  for  nomination 
in  the  Presidential  campaign  then  approaching. 

On  June  i6th,  1876,  the  Republican  Convention 
met  at  Cincinnati,  and  on  the  seventh  ballot 
Hayes  received  the  nomination  over  James  G. 
Blame  and  Benjamin  H.  Bristow.  Hayes  received 
three  hundred  and  eighty-four  votes,  Blaine  three 
hundred  and  fifty-one,  and  Bristow  twenty-one. 
The  contest  was  bitter  in  the  Convention  and  in 
the  succeeding  canvass,  and  its  close  was  a  disputed 
election,  the  electoral  votes  of  Florida,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  Louisiana  being  claimed  by  both  parties, 
as  was  one  electoral  vote  of  Oregon  also.  The 
contest  was  finally  referred  to  an  Electoral  Com 
mission,  which  decided  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  seven 
that  Hayes  was  elected,  and  he,  accordingly,  sue* 
ceeded  General  Grant  in  the  office  on  March  4th, 
1877,  the  inauguration  occurring  on  the  next  day, 
Monday,  March  5th.  The  great  feature  of  this 
Administration  was  the  full  resumption  of  specie 
payments,  a  success  achieved  without  jar  or  con 
fusion  of  any  kind  in  the  business  of  the  country. 

At  the  close  of  his  term,  March  4th,  1881,  Mr. 
Hayes  turned  over  the  Administration  to  his  suc 
cessor  amid  peace  and  prosperity  such  as  the  na 
tion  seldom  enjoyed,  and  returned  to  his  home  in 
Ohio,  where  he  still  lives  (July,  1884),  respected 
and  beloved  by  all  his  fellow-citizens. 


532  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 

THE  nation's  choice  for  the  twenty-fourth 
Presidential  term,  James  Abram  Garfield, 
was  born  November  iQth,  1831, at  Orange, 
Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio.  His  ancestors  were  early 
immigrants  of  New  England,  and  they  bore  noble 
part  in  all  the  hardships  and  sufferings  of  the  Rev 
olutionary  and  earlier  periods.  His  parents  were 
Abram  and  Eliza  Garfield,  his  father  dying  when 
James  was  but  a  child,  and  his  mother  surviving  to 
see  his  exaltation  to  the  Presidency  and  his  un 
timely  end. 

James  Garfield's  early  life  was  one  filled  with 
the  struggles  incident  to  poverty  on  the  frontier 
settlements.  On  the  farm,  on  the  canal,  and  at 
the  carpenter's  bench,  he  toiled  energetically,  read 
ing  and  studying  all  the  while,  that  he  might  fit 
himself  for  college.  He  finally  betook  himself  to 
teaching  as  a  means  of  subsistence,  and  while  so 
engaged  pressed  his  own  education  diligently.  He 
decided  to  enter  Williams  College,  Mass.,  which 
he  did,  in  June,  1854,  in  a  class  nearly  two  years 
advanced.  He  had  saved  some  money,  but  he 
worked  during  his  vacations  and  at  spare  mo 
ments,  and  so  was  enabled  to  complete  his  course, 
though  somewhat  in  debt,  graduating  August,  1856. 
While  yet  a  student,  he  became  much  interested  in 
politics  and  made  some  speeches  on  his  favorite 
views. 


'4  ••*>'_ 


.  OARFiELD'S  HOME,  MENTOR,  OHIO. 


JAMES  A.   GARFIELD. 

After  his  graduation,  he  entered  Hiram  College, 
Ohio,  as  a  teacher  of  ancient  languages  and  liter 
ature,  and  soon  after  became  its  President.  Mean 
while,  he  was  active  in  a  wide  variety  of  good 
works,  preaching,  addressing  temperance  meet 
ings,  making  political  speeches,  and  at  the  same 
time  pursuing  the  study  of  the  law.  In  1858,  he 
married  Lucretia  Rudolph,  who  had  been  a  fellow- 
student  with  him  in  his  academic  schooldays. 

As  a  logical  and  effective  political  speaker,  Gar- 
field  soon  became  prominent,  and  in  1859  was 
elected  to  the  Senate  of  his  native  State,  where  he 
immediately  took  high  rank,  although  he  still  con 
tinued  to  be  much  engaged  in  literary  and  relig 
ious  work.  In  August,  1861,  he  solemnly  consid 
ered  the  question  of  entering  the  army,  and  wrote 
his  conclusion  thus :  "  I  regard  my  life  as  given  to 
my  country.  I  am  only  anxious  to  make  as  much 
of  it  as  possible  before  the  mortgage  on  it  is  fore 
closed." 

As  a  soldier,  Garfield  was  thorough,  brave,  and 
efficient.  He  had  a  large  share  of  hard  fighting  in 
the  West  and  the  Southwest,  but  he  won  high  praise 
in  it  all,  rising  from  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel 
to  that  of  brigadier-general  and  chief  of  staff  to 
General  Rosecrans,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
until  the  battle  of  Chickamauga  had  been  fought, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  a  major-generalship 
for  "gallant  and  meritorious  conduct"  on  that 
bloody  field. 


534  *UR  F°RME-R  PRESIDENTS. 

Just  before  this  battle,  Garfield  had  been  chosen 
by  his  fellow-citizens  in  Ohio  as  their  representa 
tive  in  Congress.  To  accept  this  post  was  deemed 
his  duty  by  all  his  friends  and  advisers,  so  he  re 
signed  his  commission  on  the  5th  of  December, 
1863,  and  took  his  place  in  Congress  at  less  than 
half  the  salary  drawn  by  one  of  his  military  rank. 
In  this  new  position  he  exercised  the  same  earn 
est  conscientiousness  he  had  ever  shown.  He  was 
a  master  workman  in  every  line  of  duty  there  for 
seventeen  years,  during  which  period  he  left  the 
imprint  of  his  ability  and  patriotism  as  thoroughly 
upon  the  legislation  of  the  country  as  any  one 
man  in  public  service.  He  certainly  realized  the 
meaning  of  the  title,  "a  public  benefactor,"  as  de 
fined  in  his  own  speech  made  on  December  loth, 
1878,  in  which  he  said:  "The  man  who  wants  to 
serve  his  country  must  put  himself  in  the  line  of 
•its  leading  thought,  and  that  is  the  restoration  of 
business,  trade,  commerce,  industry,  sound  polit 
ical  economy,  hard  money,  and  the  payment  of  all 
obligations,  and  the  man  who  can  add  anything  in 
the  direction  of  accomplishing  any  of  these  pur 
poses  is  a  public  benefactor." 

No  man  with  such  an  ideal  could  fail  to  at  once 
take  high  rank.  Nor  did  Garfield  fail  to  do  so. 
At  the  outset  he  was  recognized  as  a  leader,  and 
his  influence  grew  with  his  service.  He  was  at 
once  appointed  on  the  Military  Committee,  under 
the  chairmanship  of  General  Schenck  and  the  col- 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD.  535 

leagueship  of  Farnsworth,  both  fresh  from  the 
field.  In  this  work  he  was  of  great  service— just 
as  Rosecrans  anticipated  he  would  be.  His  thor 
ough  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  army  was  of 
the  first  value  in  all  legislation  pertaining  to  mil 
itary  matters.  He  was  appointed  chairman  of  a 
select  committee  of  seven  appointed  to  investigate 
the  alleged  frauds  in  the  money-printing  bureau 
of  the  Treasury,  and  on  other  very  important  and 
complicated  matters  he  rendered  service  of  the 
greatest  value. 

He  did  most  excellent  work,  as  an  orator,  on 
many  momentous  questions,  as  the  following  partial 
list  of  his  published  Congressional  speeches  will 
show:  "Free  Commerce  between  the  States;" 
"National  Bureau  of  Education;"  "The  Public 
Debt  and  Specie  Payments  ;"  "  Taxation  of  United 
States  Bonds  ;"  "  Ninth  Census  ;"  "  Public  Expen 
ditures  and  Civil  Service;"  "The  Tariff;"  "Cur 
rency  and  the  Banks ;"  "  Debate  on  the  Currency 
Bill ;"  "  On  the  McGarrahan  Claim  ;"  "  The  Right 
to  Originate  Revenue  Bills;"  "Public  Expendi 
tures  ;"  "  National  Aid  to  Education  ,"  "  The  Cur 
rency  ;"  "  Revenues  and  Expenditures  ;"  "  Curren 
cy  and  the  Public  Faith ;"  "Appropriations;"  "Count 
ing  the  Electoral  Vote  ;"  "  Repeal  of  the  Resump 
tion  Law ;"  "  The  New  Scheme  of  American  Fi 
nance  ;"  "The  Tariff;""  Suspension  and  Resump 
tion  of  Specie  Payments ;"  "  Relation  of  the  Na 
tional  Government  to  Science  ;"  "  Sugar  Tariff." 


536 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 


It  was  a  surprise  to  nobody,  but  a  real  pleasure 
to  multitudes,  when  at  Chicago,  on  June  8th,  1880, 
James  A.  Garfield  received  the  nomination  for 
the  Presidency  by  three  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
votes  in  a  total  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty-five. 
This  was  upon  the  thirty-sixth  ballot  of  the  nomi 
nating  Convention,  but  not  until  then  had  Garfield 
been  prominently  brought  forward.  His  nomi 
nation  was  at  once  made  unanimous  in  the  Con 
vention,  and  hailed  with  joy  throughout  the  land. 
His  chief  opponent  was  the  superb  soldier,  Major- 
General  Winfield  S.  Hancock,  but  Garfield  and 
Arthur  received  two  hundred  and  fourteen  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  electoral  votes  and 
secured  the  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  na-* 
tion. 

Garfield  was  inaugurated  amid  general  satisfac 
tion  throughout  the  nation.  His  venerable  mother 
saw  her  son's  exaltation  on  that  memorable  In 
auguration  Day,  and  received  from  him,  as  the 
newly  made  President,  his  kiss  of  filial  love. 
Every  department  of  the  public  service  felt  the 
'force  of  the  new  regime,  and  prosperity  beamed 
on  every  side  until  the  fatal  Saturday,  July  2d, 
1 88 1,  when  the  assassin's  bullet  cut  short  the  era 
of  joy  and  hopefulness  which  had  just  fairly 
dawned.  After  weeks  of  patient  suffering  he 
died  at  Elberon,  N.  J.,  September  29,  iSSi. 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR. 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR. 

THE  exodus  from  foreign  lands  to  this  coun 
try  has  at  all  times  since  the  early  years 
of  the  present  century  been  remarkable 
for  its  steadiness — though  varying  during  the  de 
cades.     A  home  in  freedom  and  a  chance  for  a 
fortune  in  climes  where  centuries  have  not  bound 
with  iron  every  man's  position  is  always  an  incen 
tive  to  brave  spirits. 

Among  those  who  took  the  tide  in  its  flow,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  twenties,  was  a  young  Pro 
testant  Irishman  from  Ballymena,  County  Antrim, 
who  bore  the  name  of  William  Arthur.  He  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  a  graduate  of  Belfast  Col 
lege,  and  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  intention  of 
becoming  a  Baptist  clergyman.  In  this  he  perse 
vered,  was  admitted  to  the  ministry,  took  a  degree 
of  D.D.,  and  followed  a  career  of  great  usefulness, 
which  did  not  terminate  until  he  died,  at  Newton- 
ville,  near  Albany,  October  2/th,  1875.  He  was 
in  many  respects  a  remarkable  man.  He  acquired 
a  wide  fame  in  his  chosen  career,  and  entered  suc 
cessfully  the  great  competition  of  authors.  He 
published  a  work  on  Family  Names  that  is  to 
day  regarded  as  one  of  the  curiosities  of  English 
erudite  literature. 

He  married,  not  long  after  entering  the  minis 
try,  an  American,  Malvina  Stone,  who  bore  him 


OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

a  family  of  two  sons  and  five  daughters.  Of 
these,  Chester  Allan,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  at  Fairfield,  Franklin  County,  Vermont, 
October  5th,  1830.  From  his  home  studies  he 
went  to  a  wider  field  of  instruction  in  the  insti 
tutions  of  Schenectady,  in  the  grammar  school  of 
which  place  he  was  prepared  for  entering  Union 
College.  This  he  did  at  the  age  of  fifteen  (1845), 
and  took  successfully  the  regular  course,  excelling 
in  all  his  studies  and  graduating  very  high  in  the 
class  of  1848. 

On  graduating  he  entered  the  law  school  at  Ball- 
ston  Springs.  By  rigid  economy  and  hard  work,  he 
had  managed  to  save  five  hundred  dollars,  and  with 
this  in  his  pocket  he  went  to  New  York,  and  entered 
the  law  office  of  Erastus  D.  Culver,  afterward  minis 
ter  to  one  of  the  South  American  States  and  a  judge 
of  the  Civil  Court  of  Brooklyn.  Soon  after  entering 
Judge  Culver's  office,  he  was — in  1852 — admitted 
to  the  bar,  and  formed  the  firm  of  Culver,  Partsen 
&  Arthur,  which  was  dissolved  in  1 83 7.  No  sooner 
had  he  won  his  title  to  appear  in  the  courts,  than 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  an  old  friend,  Henry 
D.  Gardner,  with  an  intention  of  practicing  in  the 
West,  and  for  three  months  these  young  gentle 
men  roamed  through  the  Western  States  in  search 
of  a  place  to  locate.  In  the  end,  not  satisfied,  they 
returned  to  New  York  and  began  practice. 

The  law  career  of  Mr.  Arthur  includes  some 
notable  cases.  One  of  his  first  cases  was  the  cele- 


CHESTER  A.   ARTHUR. 


539 


brated  Lemmon  suit.  In  1852,  Jonathan  and  Juliet 
Lemmon,  Virginia  slaveholders,  intending  to  emi 
grate  to  Texas,  went  to  New  York  to  await  the 
sailing  of  a  steamer,  bringing  eight  slaves  with 
them.  A  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  obtained  from 
Judge  Paine  to  test  the  question  whether  the 
provisions  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  were  in  force 
in  that  State.  Judge  Paine  rendered  a  decision 
holding  that  they  were  not,  and  ordering  the  Lem 
mon  slaves  to  be  liberated.  Henry  L.  Clinton 
was  one  of  the  counsel  for  the  slaveholders.  A 
howl  of  rage  went  up  from  the  South,  and  the 
Virginia  Legislature  authorized  the  Attorney- 
General  of  that  State  to  assist  in  taking  an  appeal. 
William  M.  Evarts  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  were 
employed  to  represent  the  people,  and  they  won 
their  case,  which  then  went  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  Charles  O'Conor  here 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  slaveholders,  but  he, 
too,  was  beaten  by  Messrs.  Evarts  and  Arthur, 
and  a  long  step  was  thus  taken  toward  the 
emancipation  of  the  black  race. 

Mr.  Arthur  always  took  an  interest  in  politics 
and  the  political  surroundings  of  his  day.  His 
political  life  began  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  as  a 
champion  of  the  Whig  party.  He  shared,  too,  in 
the  turbulence  of  political  life  at  that  period,  and 
it  is  related  of  him  during  the  Polk-Clay  canvass 
that,  while  he  and  some  of  his  companions  were 
raising  an  ash  pole  in  honor  of  Henry  Clay,  some 


r  ,Q  OUR  FORMER  PRESIDENTS. 

Democratic  boys  attacked  the  party  of  Whigs, 
and  young  Arthur,  who  was  the  recognized  leader 
of  the.  party,  ordered  a  charge,  and,  taking  the 
front  ranks  himself,  drove  the  young  Democrats 
from  the  field  with  broken  heads  and  subdued 
spirits.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Saratoga  Con 
vention  that  founded  the  Republican  party  in  New 
York  State.  He  was  active  in  local  politics,  and 
he  gradually  became  one  of  the  leaders.  He 
nominated,  and  by  his  efforts  elected,  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Murphy  a  State  Senator.  When  the 
latter  resigned  the  Collectorship  of  the  Port,  in 
November,  1871,  Arthur  was  appointed  by  Presi 
dent  Grant  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

He  was  nominated  for  the  Vice-Presidency  at 
Chicago  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  June  loth. 
He  was  heartily  indorsed  by  the  popular  and 
electoral  vote,  and  on  the  death  of  President 
Garfield,  September  iQth,  1881,  he  assumed  the 
Presidential  chair.  His  Administration  was  un 
eventful,  but  was  attended  with  general  peace 
and  prosperity.  He  died  November  i8th,  1886. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
Grover  Cleveland,  the  twenty-second  President 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  at  Caldwell,  Es 
sex  county,   N.  J.,   March  18,  1837.      His  father, 


GROVE R   CLEVELAND. 

Rev.  Richard  F.  Cleveland,  a  Presbyterian  minis 
ter,  removed  in  1841  to  New  York  State,  and  in 
1853  had  settled  at  Holland  Patent,  not  far  from 
Utica,  but  died  a  few  months  later.  Grover  on 
his  father's  death  became  an  assistant  teacher  in 
the  New  York  Institution  for  the  Blind.  A  year 
later  he  was  received  into  the  home  of  his  uncle, 
William  F.  Allen,  a  prosperous  citizen  of  Buf 
falo. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1859,  he  was  made  as 
sistant  district  attorney  for  Erie  county  in  1863. 
He  was  elected  sheriff  in  1870  and  Mayor  of 
Buffalo  in  1881.  His  administration  was  marked 
by  the  reform  of  various  municipal  abuses  and 
secured  for  him  the  Democratic  nomination  for 
Governor  in  1882.  The  result  of  Republican  dis 
sension  was  seen  in  the  triumphant  election  of 
Cleveland  by  the  unprecedented  majority  of 
192,000. 

His  administration  was  made  conspicuous  by 
his  liberal  use  of  the  veto  power,  especially  in  re 
gard  to  the  expenditure  of  public  money.  In 
1884  the  Democratic  National  Convention  chose 
him  as  its  standard-bearer,  with  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks  as  his  associate.  The  contest  was  marked 
with  disgraceful  personalities,  but  was  eventually 
decided  in  the  city  of  New  York,  whose  vote 
sufficed  to  decide  the  election  in  Cleveland's 
favor  by  a  small  majority.  He  was  inaugurated 
March  4,  1885. 


542  OUR   FORMER   PRESIDENTS. 

It  is  a  matter  of  dispute  how  far  President 
Cleveland  has  carried  out  his  pledges  of  Civil 
Service  Reform.  There  is  no  dispute  that  he 
has  pressed  strongly  for  the  reduction  of  the 
Tariff  as  the  most  effective  means  of  diminishing 
the  surplus  in  the  national  treasury. 

For  more  than  a  year  after  his  entrance  to  the 
White  House  his  sister,  Miss  Rose  E.  Cleveland, 
was  the  hostess  of  that  mansion.  But  on  June 
2,  1886,  President  Cleveland  was  married  there 
to  Miss  Frances  Folsom,  the  daughter  of  his 
former  law  partner,  Oscar  Folsom.  Mrs.  Cleve 
land  has  obtained  a  high  place  in  the  regard  of 
the  American  people. 

Early  in  June,  1888,  President  Cleveland  was 
unanimously  renominated  by  acclamation  in  the 
Democratic  National  Convention  at  St.  Louis. 
Allen  G.  Thurman  was  nominated  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent  on  the  first  ballot. 


THE 


CITIZEN'S  HANDBOOK 

OF 

VALUABLE  FACTS  FOR  CAMPAIGN  WORK, 


(543) 


''In  order  to  have  any  success  in  life,  or  any  worthy 
success,  you  must  resolve  to  carry  into  your  work  a  full 
ness  of  Knowledge — not  merely  a  Sufficiency,  but  more 
than  a  Sufficiency." 

James  A.  Garfield. 

544 


PRESIDENTIAL  CONTESTS. 


BIRD'S-EYE    VIEW    OF   THE    PRESIDENTIAL 
CONTESTS. 

Washington,  Adams,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  and  Jackson  were  chosen  to  the  Presidency 
without  the  machinery  of  either  State  or  National  Conven 
tions  for  their  nomination. 

WASHINGTON  was  chosen  by  common  consent  and  demand, 
receiving  the  unanimous  electoral  vote,  sixty-nine,  ten  States 
only  voting,  New  York,  North  Carolina,  and  Rhode  Island 
not  having  adopted  the  Constitution  or  framed  election  laws, 
and  four  qualified  delegates  being  absent.  At  his  second 
election  he  received  all  the  votes  but  three,  viz. :  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  out  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five,  fifteen 
States  voting.  In  1789,  eleven  other  persons  were  voted  for 
on  the  same  ballots  with  Washington,  he  who  received  the  next 
highest  vote  to  be  the  Vice-President,  as  was  the  rule  until 
1804.  John  Adams  was  thus  chosen  by  thirty-four  votes  over 
the  following  competitors:  John  Jay,  R.  H.  Harrison,  John 
Rutledge,  John  Hancock,  George  Clinton,  Samuel  Hunt 
ingdon,  John  Milton,  James  Armstrong,  Benjamin  Lincoln, 
and  Edward  Telfair.  In  1792,  John  Adams  was  again  chosen 
Vice-President,  by  seventy-seven  out  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  votes,  over  George  Clinton,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and 
Aaron  Burr.  Adams  represented  the  Federalist  or  Adminis 
tration  party  of  the  day,  the  opposition  being  then  known 
as  the  Republican  party. 

ADAMS,  having  twice  held  the  Vice-Presidency,  was  thought 
to  have  a  claim  on  the  higher  position,  and  in  1796,  sixteen 
States  voting,  he  received  seventy- one  electoral  votes,  Jeffer 
son  receiving  sixty-eight,  and  becoming  Vice-President  over 
Thomas  Pinckney,  Aaron  Burr,  Samuel  Adams,  Oliver  Ells 
worth,  George  Clinton,  John  Jay,  James  Iredell,  George 
Washington,  John  Henry,  S.  Johnson,  and  Charles  C.  Pinck 
ney,  for  each  of  whom  from  one  to  fifty-nine  electoral  votes 
35 


546 


PRESIDENTIAL  CONTESTS. 


were  cast.  The  successful  candidates  represented  the  two 
parties  of  the  day.  In  1800,  the  parties  in  Congress  each 
held  a  caucus  and  each  nominated  its  own  candidates. 

JEFFERSON  was  chosen  President  in  1800,  on  the  thirty- 
sixth  ballot  of  the  House  ef  Representatives,  he  and  Aaron 
Burr  having  a  tie  vote  of  seventy-three  in  the  Electoral  Col 
lege,  sixteen  States  voting.  Burr  then  became  Vice-President 
over  John  Adams,  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  and  John  Jay,  who 
represented  the  Federalists.  In  1803,  the  Constitution  was 
amended  prescribing  the  present  method  of  choosing  the 
nation's  chief  officers.  After  this  for  a  long  period  the  Re 
publican  party  and  its  successor,  the  Democratic  party,  had 
things  as  they  pleased.  In  1804,  Jefferson  was  re-elected 
over  Charles  C.  Pinckney  by  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
votes  to  fourteen,  George  Clinton  becoming  Vice-President 
over  Rufus  King.  This  was  a  result  of  the  Congressional 
caucus.  Seventeen  States  voted. 

MADISON,  the  nominee  of  the  Republican  caucus,  received 
one  hundred  and  twenty-two  electoral  votes  in  1808,  seventeen 
States  voting,  his  opponent,  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  receiving  but 
fourteen,  and  George  Clinton,  another  candidate,  receiving 
none.  Clinton  received  one  hundred  and  thirteen  votes  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  however,  and  was  chosen  over  Rufus  King, 
John  Langdon,  James  Madison,  and  James  Monroe. 

In  1812,  Madison  received  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
electoral  votes  out  of  two  hundred  and  eighteen,  eighteen 
States  voting,  De  Witt  Clinton  receiving  eighty-nine  votes. 
Elbridge  Gerry  was  chosen  to  the  second  place  by  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-one  votes,  Jared  Ingersoll  receiving  eighty-six. 

MONROE  was  twice  lifted  into  power  by  the  caucus,  receiv 
ing  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  votes  to  thirty-four  for 
Rufus  King,  in  1816,  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  to  one 
only  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  1820,  nineteen  States  voting 
in  the  first  election  and  twenty-four  in  the  second.  D.  D. 
Tompkins  received  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  votes  for 


PRESIDENTIAL   CONTESTS 

Vice-President  in  1816,  and  two  hundred  and  eighteen  in 
1820,  his  competitors  in  the  first  race  being  John  E.  Howard, 
James  Ross,  John  Marshall,  and  Robert  G.  Harper,  and  in 
the  second  Richard  Stockton,  Daniel  Rodney,  Robert  G.  Har 
per,  and  Richard  Rush.  At  the  end  of  Monroe's  term  parties 
began  to  break  up  and  new  combinations  to  form  under  lead 
of  the  State  Legislatures,  several  of  which  brought  out  their 
favorite  sons. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  was  the  Coalition  nominee  of  Massa 
chusetts  in  1824.  Jackson  was  put  forward  by  Tennessee,  as 
were  William  H.  Crawford  and  Henry  Clay  by  their  respective 
States;  twenty-four  States  voted  in  this  contest,  having  two  hun 
dred  and  sixty-one  electoral  votes,  of  which  Jackson  received 
ninety-nine,  and  Adams  eighty-four,  the  remainder  being 
divided  among  the  other  two  candidates.  No  choice  being 
made,  the  House  of  Representatives  settled  the  contest,  giving 
Adams  thirteen  States,  Jackson  seven  States,  and  Crawford 
four  States.  Jackson's  popular  vote  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two ;  that  of 
Adams,  one  hundred  and  five  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-one,  while  Crawford  and  Clay  together  polled  ninety 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine.  A  tempest  of  ill-feel 
ing  was  begotten  by  this  decision.  John  C.  Calhoun  was  chosep 
Vice-President,  however,  receiving  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  votes,  his  opponents  being  Nathan  Sanford,  Nathaniel 
Macon,  Andrew  Jackson,  Martin  Van  Buren,  and  Henry  Clay. 

JACKSON  was  so  enraged  by  his  defeat  that  he  left  the  Senate 
and  threw  all  his  tremendous  energy  into  the  campaign  of 
1828,  he  being  the  leader  of  the  newly  formed  Demociatic 
party.  Twenty-four  States  voted,  with  two  hundred  and 
sixty- one  electoral  votes,  of  which  Jackson  secured  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-eight,  to  eighty-three  for  Adams,  and  a 
popular  vote  of  six  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand  two 
hundred  and  thirty-one,  to  five  hundred  and  nine  thousand 
and  ninety-seven  for  Adams.  Calhoun  again  became  Vice- 
President  by  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  votes,  Richard 


548 


PRESIDENTIAL  CONTESTS. 


Rush  and  William  Smith  being  his  vanquished  rivals.  In 
1832,  Jackson  again  swept  the  board,  receiving  two  hundred 
and  nineteen  electoral  votes  and  six  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  popular  votes,  Henry 
Clay,  the  National  Republican  candidate,  receiving  forty-nine 
electoral  votes,  and  five  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  popular  votes.  John  Floyd  and 
William  Wirt  received  some  thirty-three  thousand  votes  from 
the  people  and  eighteen  from  the  electors.  Martin  Van 
Buren  became  Vice-President  in  Jackson's  second  term,  re 
ceiving  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  votes,  his  competitors 
being  John  Sergeant,  Henry  Lee,  Amos  Ellmaker,  and 
William  Wilkins. 

The  Convention  system  was  born  under  Jackson's  Adminis 
tration.  Its. object  was  to  prevent  defeat  "by  scattered  votes 
in  the  same  party  The  anti-Masonic  party  held  the  first 
gathering  of  the  sort,  William  Wirt  being  its  nominee.  The 
National  Republicans  followed  in  1831,  the  Democrats  in 
1832.  This  machinery  bore  its  first  fruits  in  Jackson's  second 
Presidential  campaign.  The  Whig  party  made  its  first  ap 
pearance  in  1836,  but  its  counsels  were  divided  and  it  lost. 

VAN  BUREN  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats,  and  in  1836, 
twenty-six  States  voting,  he  received  one  hundred  and  seventy 
electoral  votes,  four  Whig  candidates,  William  H.  Harrison, 
Hugh  L.  White,  Daniel  Webster,  and  W.  P.  Mangum  divid 
ing  among  themselves  eleven  electoral  votes.  Van  Buren 's 
popular  vote  was  seven  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  forty-nine;  that  of  all  others,  seven  hundred 
and  thirty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-six.  R.  M. 
Johnson,  who  received  one  hundred  and  seventy  electoral 
votes  for  Vice-President,  not  receiving  a  majority  of  all,  was 
elected  by  the  Senate.  His  competitors  were  Francis 
Granger,  John  Tyler,  and  William  Smith. 

HARRISON,  in  1840,  received  a  popular  vote  of  one  million 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  and  seventeen,  and  an 
electoral  vote  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-four,  as  did  John 


PRESIDENTIAL  CONTESTS. 


549 


Tyler,  his  associate  on  the  Whig  ticket.  He  was  opposed  by 
Van  Buren,  who  polled  one  million  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  two  popular  votes,  and 
sixty  of  the  electoral  college,  and  by  James  G.  Birney,  of  the 
Liberty  or  Abolition  party,  who  polled  seven  thousand  and 
fifty-nine  votes.  R.  M.  Johnson,  L.  W.  Tazewell,  and  James 
K.  Polk  were  candidates  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  receiving  in 
all  sixty  electoral  votes.  Twenty-six  States  voted.  Harrison's 
election  was  the  first  Whig  success,  and  the  campaign  preced 
ing  it  has  been  aptly  termed  "  the  great  national  frolic." 

POLK  was  chosen  President  in  1844  over  Birney,  the  Abo 
litionist,  and  Clay,  the  Whig,  receiving  a  popular  vote  of 
one  million  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty-three,  and  an  electoral  vote  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy,  to  Clay's  one  million  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  thousand  and  sixty-eight  popular  and  one  hundred  and 
five  electoral,  Birney's  vote  being  sixty-two  thousand  three 
hundred  popular  and  none  electoral.  For  Vice-President 
George  M.  Dallas  received  the  same  electoral  vote  as  Polk, 
and  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  the  same  as  Clay. 

TAYLOR  was  chosen  by  the  Whigs  in  1848,  Clay  and  Web 
ster  being  abandoned.  He  and  his  associate,  Millard  Fill- 
more,  received  each  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  electoral 
votes  and  a  popular  vote  of  one  million  three  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  one  hundred  and  one.  Lewis  Cass,  the  Demo 
cratic  nominee,  and  Wm.  O.  Butler,  his  associate,  were  re 
garded  as  a  weak  combination,  but  they  polled  one  million 
two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-four 
votes,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  electors.  Van 
Buren  ran  on  the  Free  Soil  ticket  with  Charles  Francis  Adams, 
and  received  two  hundred  and  ninety-one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  sixty-thre-e  votes,  thirty  States  voting.  Taylor 
died,  and  Fillmore  quarreled  with  his  party,  thus  impairing 
its  strength  sadly. 

PIERCE  rode  into  power  over  the  fragments  of  the  Whig 
party,  he  and  his  associate,  William  R.  King,  receiving  two 


550 


PRESIDEN'l 'I A L   CONTESTS. 


hundred  and  fifty-four  electoral  and  one  million  six  hundred 
and  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-four  popular 
votes.  Winfield  Scott  and  William  A.  Graham,  the  Whig 
nominees,  received  forty-two  electoral  and  one  million  three 
hundred  and  eighty-six  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  popular  votes,  John  P.  Hale  and  George  W.  Julian, 
Free  Democrats,  polling  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty-nine  suffrages.  This  contest  ended 
the  Whig  party.  Thirty-one  States  voted. 

BUCHANAN"  was  chosen  in  1856  by  one  hundred  and  sev 
enty-four  electoral  votes,  John  C.  Breckenridge  being  his 
associate,  they  receiving  a  popular  vote  of  one  million  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine,  John  C.  Fremont  and  Wm.  L.  Dayton,  nominees  of  the 
newly-formed  Republican  party,  receiving  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  electoral  and  one  million  three  hundred  and  forty- 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  popular  votes, 
while  Millard  Fillmore  and  A.  J.  Donelson,  of  the  American 
party,  had  eight  electoral  and  eight  hundred  and  seventy-four 
thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty-four  popular  votes.  This 
was  a  most  bitter  campaign,  saturated  with  all  the  issues  of 
slavery,  disunion,  and  border  ruffianism. 

LINCOLN  was  elected  in  1860  by  a  popular  vote  of  one 
million  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty-two,  and  an  electoral  vote  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty,  Hannibal  Hamlin  being  his  associate.  This  was  the 
first  victory  for  the  Republicans.  Democrats,  Constitutional 
Unionists,  and  Independent  Democrats  voted  respectively 
for  Breckenridge  and  Lane,  Bell  and  Everett,  and  Douglas 
and  Johnson,  who  received  electoral  votes  as  follows: 
Breckenridge,  seventy-two ;  Bell,  thirty-nine ;  Douglas, 
twelve ;  and  popular  votes :  Breckenridge,  eight  hundred 
and  forty-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three ;  Bell, 
five  hundred  and  eighty-nine  thousand  five  hundred  and 
eighty-one;  and  Douglas,  one  million  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven.  Thirty* 


PRESIDENTIAL  CONTESTS.  551 

three  States  engaged  in  this  contest,  of  which  Lincoln  carried 
seventeen,  Breckenridge  eleven,  Bell  three,  and  Douglas 
two.  Lincoln's  second  election,  Andrew  Johnson  being  his 
associate,  was  by  two  hundred  and  twelve  electoral  and  two 
million  two  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  andsixty-seven  pop 
ular  votes,  George  B.  McClellan  and  G.  H.  Pendleton  receiv 
ing  twenty-one  electoral  and  one  million  eight  hundred  and 
eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  popular  votes. 
Eleven  States  and  eighty-one  electors  were  not  represented 
in  this  election.  Of  twenty-five  voting  States  Lincoln  carried 
all  but  three. 

GRANT  was  chosen  in  1872  over  Horatio  Seymour  by  two 
hundred  and  fourteen  votes  of  the  Electoral  College  to  eighty, 
twenty-three  electors,  three  States,  not  represented.     Schuyler 
Colfax  and  Frank  P  Blair,  Jr.,  were  the  respective  Vice-Pres 
idential  nominees.    The  popular  vote  was  three  million  fifteen 
thousand  and  seventy-one,  for  Grant,  to  two  million  seven 
hundred  and  nine  thousand   six  hundred  and  thirteen  for  Sey 
mour.     At  the  election  of  1872  Grant  had  a  long  line  of  com 
petitors,  but  he  polled  three  million  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  thousand  and  seventy  popular  votes,  and  two  hundred 
and  eighty-six  electoral  out  of  a  possible  three  hundred  and 
sixty-six.     All  the  States  voted.     His  competitors  on  various 
tickets  were  Horace  Greeley,  Charles  O' Conor,  James  Black, 
Thos.  A.  Hendricks,  Charles  J.  Jenkins,  and  David  Davis. 
Henry  Wilson  was  chosen  Vice-President,  overB.  Gratz  Brown, 
Geo.  W.  Julian,  A.  H.  Colquitt,  John  M.  Palmer,  T.  E.  Bram- 
lette,  W.  S.  Groesbeck,  Willis  B.  Machen,  and  N.  P.  Banks. 
HAYES  was  elected,  with  his  associate,  Wm.  A.  Wheeler,  in 
a  scattering  contest.     His  popular  vote  was  four  million  thirty- 
three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty.     Samuel  J.  Tilden, 
(Democrat)  received  four  million  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-five  votes.       Peter 
Cooper,  (Greenback)  eighty-one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
forty.     Green  Clay  Smith  (Prohibition),  nine  thousand  five 
hundred  and  twenty-two,  and  two  thousand  six  hundred  and 


552  PRESIDENTIAL   CONTESTS. 

thirty-six  were  scattering.  T.  A.  Hendricks  was  Mr.  Tilden'a 
associate.  The  disputed  vote  was  settled  by  an  Electoral  Com 
mission  which  awarded  Hayes  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
electoral  votes  and  Tilden  one  hundred  and  eighty-four. 

GARFIELD  received,  in  1880,  a  popular  vote  of  four  million 
four  hundred  and  forty-nine  thousand  and  fifty-three,  and  an 
electoral  vote  of  two  hundred  and  fourteen,  together  with 
Chester  A.  Arthur,  his  associate.  Winfield  S.  Hancock  and 
William  H.  English  received  four  million  four  hundred  and 
forty-two  thousand  and  thirty-five  popular,  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  electoral  votes.  The  Greenback  candidates, 
James  B.  Weaver  and  B.  J.  Chambers,  received  three  hundred 
and  seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  six  votes,  and  twelve 
thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy-six  were  reported  as  scat 
tering.  Thus  the  Republicans  held  the  Presidency  from  Lin 
coln's  election  in  1860. 

CLEVELAND  received  a  popular  vote  of  four  million  nine 
hundred  and  eleven  thousand  and  seventeen,  with  an  electoral 
vote  of  two  hundred  and  nineteen,  a  majority  of  thirty-seven 
electoral  votes  over  his  chief  competitor,  James  G.  Elaine. 
The  Prohibition  candidate,  John  P.  St.  John,  received  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  thousand  votes,  while  the  Green 
back  candidate,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  received  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  thousand  votes.  Thomas  A.  Hen 
dricks,  chosen  Vice-President  with  Mr.  Cleveland,  died 
November  25th,  1885. 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


553 


TABLES   OI1   PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


SUMMARY  OF  POPULAR  AND  ELECTORAL  VOTES  FOR  PRESI 
DENT  AND  VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  1789- 
1876. 


1 

w« 

*s 

1 

00 

0) 

tfj 
"c 

d 

Y< 

^ 
2 

0 

EI 
73 

135 
138 

138 

POLITICAL 
PARTY. 

*  PRESIDENTS. 

*  VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

CANDIDATES. 

VOTE. 

CANDIDATES. 

Elect,  Vote. 

States. 

Popular. 

Electoral 

1789 

1792 
1796 

1800 

no 

15 
16 

16 

George  Washington 
John  Adams 

fW 

34 
9 
6 
8 
4 
3 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
4 

'77 
50 
4 
1 
3 

"m 

5'J 
30 
15 
11 
7 
5 
3 
•2 
2 
2 
1 

John  Jay  

R.  H.  Harrison 

John  Rutledge 

" 

John  Hancock 

George  Clinton. 

Samuel  Huntingdon 
John  Milton  

James  Armstrong.. 
Benjamin  Lincoln 

Edward  Telfair 

Federalist.  . 
Federalist.  . 
Republican 

Vacancies  

4 
1M 

George  Washington 
John  Adams 

George  Clinton 

Thomas  Jefferson.  . 

Federalist.  . 
Republican 
Federalist.. 
Republican 

Aaron  Burr  

Vacancies 

fl 

John  Adams 

71 

Thomas  Jefferson 

Thoma^  Pinckuey 

Aaron  Burr  

Samuel  Adams 

Oliver  Ellsworth 

Geor<rc  Clinton 

John  Jay       

James  Iredell 

Georgo  Washington 

S.  Johnson  
Charles  C.  Pinckney 

Thomas  Jefferson 

Republican 
Republican 
Federalist.. 
Federalist  .  . 

178 

Aaroa  Burr 

}73 
65 
G4 
1 

John  Adams 

Charles  C.  Pinckney 

*  Previous  to  the  election  of  1804  each  elector  voted  for  two  candidates  for  President ;  the 
one  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes,  if  a  majority,  was  declared  elected  President ; 
and  the  next  highest  Vice-President. 

t  Three  States  out  of  thirteen  did  not  vote,  viz. :  New  York,  which  had  not  passed  an  eiec- 
toral  law  ;  and  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island,  which  had  not  adopted  the  Constitution. 

$  There  having  been  a  tie  vote,  the  choice  devolved  upon  the  House  of  Representatives. 
A  choice  was  made  on  the  36th  ballot,  which  was  as  follows  :  Jefferson— Georgia,  Kentucky. 
Maryland,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Carolina,  Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  and 
Virginia— 10  States  -Burr— Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  Ne'w  Hajapsliire,  WWl  ttttoUe  Islaud 
~4  States ;  Blank— Delaware  and  South  Carolina— 2  bUrtw. 


554 


POPULAR  AND  ELECTORAL   VOTES. 


\i 

I 

s 

02 

0 

1 

> 

y 

w 

3 

e 

POLITICAL 
PABTY. 

PRESIDENTS. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

CANDIDATES. 

VOTE. 

CANDIDATES. 

f 

States. 

Popular. 

Electoral 

1804 
1808 

1812 
1610 

1820 

1821 

1823 
1632 

1636 

ir 

17 

18 
19 

24 

24 

24 
24 

26 

170 
176 

218 
221 

235 

261 

261 
288 

294 

Republican 
Federalist.. 

Republican 
Federalist.. 

Thomas  Jefferson  .  . 
Charles  C.  Pinckney 

James  Madison.  .. 
Charles  C.  Piuckney 
George  Clinton  

15 
2 

12 
5 

••"••••• 

162 
14 

122 

47 
6 

'  'i 

George  Clinton.  . 
Rufus  King  

George  Clinton.  . 
Rufus  King  
John  Langdon  .  . 
James  Madison. 
James  Monroe.. 

102 
14 

113 
47 
9 
3 
3 
1 

131 
86 
1 

18-3 
22 
5 
4 
3 
4 

218 
8 
4 

1 
3 

182 
30 
24 
13 
9 
2 
1 

171 
83 
7 

1S9 
49 
11 
7 
30 
2 

147 
77 
47 
23 

Republican. 
Federalist.  . 

Vacancy  

James  Madison  .... 
DeWitt  Clinton  

11 
7 

128 
89 
1 

Elbridge  Gerry.. 
Jared  Ingersoll.  . 

Vacancy  

Republican. 
Federalist.  . 

James  Monroe  

16 

188 
34 

D.  D.  Tompkin?  . 
John  E.  Howard 
James  ROBS  
John  Marshall.. 
Robt.  G.  Harper. 

Rufus  King  

jj 

Republican. 
Opposition. 

Vacancies       .  . 

,1 

James  Monroe  
John  Q,.  Adams  

24 



231 
1 

D.  D.  Tompkins. 
Rich.  Stockton.. 
Daniel  Rodney. 
Robt.  G.  Harper 
Richard  Rush... 

S 

Republican. 
Coalition..  . 
Republican. 
Republican. 

Vacancies.  ...   ... 

Andrew  Jackson.  .  . 
John  Q.  Adams  
Wm.  H.  Crawford.. 
Henry  Clay  

10 
8 
3 
3 

155,872 
105,821 
44,282 
46,58? 

*«»!» 
84 
41 
37 

John  C.  Calhoun 
Nathan  Sanford. 
Nathaniel  Macon 
Andrew  Jackson 
M.  Van  Buren... 
Henry  Clay  

Democratic 
Nat.  Repub. 

Vacancy  

Andrew  Jackson.  .  . 
John  Q.  Adams  .  .  . 

15 
9 

647,231 
509,097 

178 
b3 

John  C.  Calhoun 
Richard  Rush.  . 
William  Smith. 

M.  VanBnren.. 
John  Sergeant.  . 
Henry  Lee  
Amos  Ellmaker. 
William  Wilkins 

Democratic 
Nat.  Repub. 

Andre-w  Jackson.  .  . 
Henry  Clay  

15 

1 
1 

687,502 
630,189 

33,108 

219 
-19 
11 

John  Floyd  I 
William  Wirt....  f 

Anti-Mason 

Democratic. 
Whig.. 
Whig  
Whig  
Whie... 

2 

Martin  Van  Buren 
Wm.  H.  Harrison  "I 
Hugh  L.  White..  I 
Daniel  Webster.,  f 
Wr.  P.  Mangum... 

15 

I 

761,549 
736,656 

17( 

PJJ 

2f 
14 
11 

R.  M.  Johnsont. 
Francis  Granger. 
John  Tyler  
William  Smith.. 

*  No  choice  having  been  made  by  the  Electoral  College,  the  choice  devolved  upon  the 
House  cf  Representatives.  A  choice  was  made  on  the  first  ballot,  which  was  as  follows: 
Adams— Connecticut,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maine,  Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Mis- 
eouri.  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  Ohio.  Rhode  Island,  and  Vermont— 13  States ;  Jackson— 
Alabama,  Indiana,  Mississippi,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania.  South  Carolina,  and  Tennessee— 
7  States ;  Crawford— Delaware,  Georgia,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia—4  States. 

t  No  candidate  having  received  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  Electoral  College,  the  oen- 
•te  •tooted  R,  M,  JgbnaeQ  Vice-Presidwti,  who  racei  v  wl  S3  vottt ;  Frauui  Granger  received  11 


POPULAR  AND  ELECTORAL  VOTES. 


555 


*J 

1 

s 

Jj 

GO 

*o 

0° 

r< 

>•  i 
I 

G 

I! 

POLITICAL 
PARTY. 

PRESIDENTS.                     j    VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

CANDIDATES. 

VOTE. 

CANDIDATES. 

1 

a 

I 

Popular. 

Electoral 

1840 

1844 
1848 
1852 
185C 
I860 

18C4 
1868 
1872 

1876 

IS£ 

26 

26 
30 
31 
31 
33 

*36 

t37 

37 

.",8 

v 

94 

75 
290 
296 
29G 
303 

314 
317 
366 

369 

3Cr. 

Whig  
Democratic 
Liberty  — 

Wm.  II.  Harrison.  . 
Martin  Van  Buren. 
fames  G.  Birney.  .. 

9 

7 

1,275,017 
1,128.702 
7,059 

234 
00 

170 
1U5 

John  Tyler  
R.  M.  Johnson  .  . 

L'.'W.  'Tazeweli. 
James  K.  Polk.. 

Geo.  M.  Dallas.. 
T.  Frelinghuysen, 

234 

43 

'ii 
i 

170 

11/5 

Democratic 
Whig  .. 
Liberty  .... 

Whig  

Fames  K.  Polk  

5 

1 

5 

4 

f^ 

i 
1 

17 
11 
3 

f 

32 

3 
1  1 

1,337,243 
1,299,008 
62,300 

1.360,101 
1,220,544 
291,263 

1,601,474 
1,386,578 
156,149 

1.838.169 
1,341,264 
874,534 

1,866,352 
845.763 
589,581 
1,375,157 

2,216,067 
1,808,725 

James  G.  Birney... 

Zachary  Taylor  
Lewis  Cass  

163 
127 

254 

42 

174 
114 

8 

180 
72 
39 
12 

212 
21 
81 

Millard  Fillmore 
Wm.  O.  Butler.. 
Chas.  F.  Adams  . 

Wm.  R.  King.  .. 
;Wm.  A.  Graham 
Geo.  W.  Julian.. 

J.  C.  Breckinr'ge 
Wm.  L.  Dayton. 
A.  J.  Donelson.. 

'  Hannibal  Hamlin 
Joseph  Lane  
j  Edward  Everett. 
H.  V.  Johnson  .  . 

Andrew  John  son 
G.  11.  Pendieton. 

168 
121 

254 
42 

174 
114 
8 

180 

**  > 

39 

13 

212 
21 

61 

214 
80 
23 

286 
47 
5 
5 
3 
3 
1 
1 
1 
14 

185 
184 

Democratic 
Free  Soil... 

Democratic 
Whig  
Free  Dem.. 

Democratic 
Republican. 
American  .  . 

Republican. 
Democratic. 
Cons.  Union 
lad.  Dem... 

Republican. 
Democratic 

Republican 
Democratic 

Republican 
Dem.  &Lil) 
Democratic 
Temp'rance 

Martin  Van  Buren.  . 

Franklin  Pierce  
Whmeld  Scott  
John  1'  Hale 

James  Buchanan.  .  . 
John  C.  Fremont.. 
Millard  Fillmore... 

Abraham  Lincoln  .  . 
J.  C.  Breckinridge.. 
John  Bell        

S.  A.  Douglas  

Abraham  Lincoln.. 
Geo.  B.  McClellan.. 
Vacancies 

Ulysses  S.  Grant.  .. 
Horatio  Seymour  .. 
Vacancies  

86 

8 
I 

3,015,071 
2,709,613 

214  'schuyler  Colfax. 
80;  ,F.  P.  Blair,  Jr... 
23  1  

Ulysses  S.  Grant... 
Horace  Greeley  — 
Charles  O'Couor... 
James  Black 

M 

C 

3,597,070 
2,834,079 
29,408 
6,608 

286 

'4-2 
IS 
2 
1 

17 

!  Henry  Wilson... 
B.  Gratz  Brown. 
Geo.  W.  Julian.. 
IA.  H.  Colquitt... 
John  M.  Palmer. 
,  T.  E.  Bramlette. 
W.  S.  Groesbeak 
i  Willis  B.Machen 
N.  P.  Banks  

Thos.  A.  Hendricks 
B.  Gratz  Brown  
Charles  J.  Jenkins 
David  Davis  

Republican. 
Democratic. 
Greenback.. 
Prohibition 

%  N'ot  Counted.  . 

Rutherford  B.Hayes 
Samuel  J.  Tilden.  . 
Peter  Cooper  
Green  Clay  Smith. 
Scattering    

•21 
1? 

4,033,95C 
4,284,881 
81.74C 
9  525 

185 

184 

!  Wm.  A.  Wheeler 
I  T.  A.  Hendricka 
L. 

•"ir-  

2,63f 
1 
[  4,449.053 
4,44:2,03") 
307.306 
1       12,576 

};:  

EepuDflcan 
1  Democratic 
Greenback. 

..James  A.  Garfleld.. 
.IWinneld  S.HancocL 
.  James  B.  Weaver.. 
.[Scattering  

'li 
li 

II 

2141  (Chester  A.  Arthur 
155  Wm.  H.  English- 
B.  J.  Chambers.. 

|2U 
155 

*  Eleven  States  did  not  vote,  viz.:  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida.  Georgia  Louisiana  Mia 
•lasippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas,  and  Virginia. 

t  Three  States  did  not  vote,  viz.:  Mississippi.  Texas,  and  Virginia. 

t  Three  electoral  votes  of  Georgia  cast  for  Horace  Greelov.  and  the  votes  at  Arkansas  0 
and  Louisiana  8,  cast  for  U.  S.  Grunt,  were  rejected.  If  alHiad  been  included  in  the  coulnt 
the  eleet«Hia  vote  would  have  been  SOO  for  U.  6.  Graat.  and  6i  for  opposing  candiditei 


556  NATIONAL  ELECTIONS. 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 

The  Presidential  election  will  take  place  on  Tuesday, 
November  4th,  1884.  The  Constitution  prescribes  that  each 
State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof 
may  direct,  a  number  of  electors  equal  to  the  whole  number 
of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be 
entitled  in  Congress.  For  the  election  this  year  the  electors 
by  States  will  be  as  follows : 

States.  Electoral         States.  Electoral 

Vote.  Vote. 

Alabama lOjMissouri 16 

Arkansas 7JNebraska 5 

California 8:Nevada 3 

Colorado 3!New  Hampshire 4 

Connecticut 6jNew  Jersey 9 

Delaware 3  New  York 36 

Florida 4! North  Carolina II 

Georgia 12  Ohio 23 

Illinois 22'Oregon. 3 

Indiana ^Pennsylvania 30 

Iowa  13  Rhode  Island 4 

Kansas -9jSouth  Carolina' 9 

Kentucky 13'Tennessee 12 

Louisiana SjTexas 13 

Maine  6jVermont 4 

Maryland'. 8  Virginia 12 

Massachusetts 14  West  Virginia 6 

Michigan 13  Wisconsin II 

Minnesota 7 

Mississippi 9         Total 401 

Necessary  to  a  choice,  201. 

No  Senator  or  Representative,  or  person  holding  an  office  of 
profit  or  trust  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  an  elector. 
In  all  the  States,  the  laws  thereof  direct  that  the  people  shall 
choose  the  electors.  The  Constitution  declares  that  the  day 
when  electors  are  chosen  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the 
United  States.  The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective 
States  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  December,  and  vote  by  ballot 
for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom  at  least  shall 
not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  as  themselves. 


QUALIFICATIONS  A< OR   VOTERS. 

QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  VOTERS. 


557 


STATES. 

i 

Requirement 
as  to 
Citizenship. 

Residence 
in 

Registration. 

4J 
3 

crt 

>> 
a 

J 

Alabama  

21 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 

21 
21 

O  J 

21 
21 
21 
2 
21 
2 
2 
2 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 

21 

21 
21 
21 
21 
-!I 
21 
21 
21 

21 
21 
21 
21 

.M 

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens              

I  yr. 
i  yr. 
I  yr. 
6mo 
i  yr. 
lyr. 

I  yr. 

lyr. 

I  yr. 
6  mo 
6  mo 
6  mo 
2  yrs 
lyr. 
3  mo 
I  yr. 
i  yr. 

3  mo 
6  mo 
gods 

No  law. 
Prohibited. 
Required 
Required. 
Required. 
Not  required. 

Required. 

No  law. 
Required. 
No  law. 
Required. 
Req'd  in  cities 
Not  required. 
No  law. 
Required. 
Required. 
Required. 
Required. 
Required. 
Required. 
Req'd  in  cities 
Required. 
Required. 
Required. 
Req'd  in  cities 
Req'd  in  cities 
Required. 
Not  required. 

Required. 
Required. 
Required. 
Not  required. 
Prohibited. 
Required. 
Required. 
Prohibited. 
Required. 

Arkansas  
California  .... 

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens 

Connecticut... 
Delaware  

Florida 

6  mo 
I  mo 

6  mo 

6  mo 
9ods 
6ods 
6ods 

lyr. 

6  mo 

6  mo 

Actual  County  taxpayers...  . 

(  United  States   citizens  or  \ 
\      declared  intention  / 
Actual  citizens. 

Georgia  

Actual  citizens..  . 

Indiana  

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens..  .  •  

Iowa  
Kansas  

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Free  white  male  citizens  
Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens             .. 

Kentucky  

Louisiana  
Maine  

Maryland  
Massachusetts. 
Michigan  
Minnesota  
Mississippi.  ... 
Missouri. 

Actual  citizens  . 

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
\ctual  citizens 

3  mo 
4mo 
6  mo 
I  yr. 
6  mo 
6  mo 

I  mo 

6ods 

3ods 
5  mo 
4mo 
gods 

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens  

Nebraska 

Nevada  
N.  Hampshire 
New  Jersey... 
New  York.... 
N.  Carolina... 
Ohio 

Actual  citizens  . 

I  yr. 
I  yr. 
I  yr. 

Actual  citizens.  . 

Actual  citizens  

I  yr. 

Oregon  
Pennsylvania. 
Rhode  Island 
S.  Carolina.... 
Tennessee  
Texas  
Vermont  
Virginia  
W.  Virginia... 
Wisconsin  

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  tax-paying  citizens  
Actual  citizens  

6  mo 
I  yr. 
I  yr. 
lyr. 
lyr. 
lyr. 
i  yr. 
I  yr. 

6ods 
6  mo 
6  mo 

Actual  citizens.  

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 
Actual  citizens 

Actual  citizens  

lyr. 
I  yr. 

6ods 

Citizens  or  declared  intention. 

NOTE. — In  several  States  women  are  permitted  to  vote  on  the  school  questions,  seleo 
tion  of  directors,  etc. 


558 


ffVMES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


'Presi- 
dential 
Term. 

Name. 

Qualified. 

Born. 

Died. 

I 
2 
3 

4 

1 
I 

9 

10 

ii 

12 
»3 
14 

\l 

\l 

19 

20 

21 
22 

23 

24 

George  .Washington.. 
George  Washington.. 
John  Adams  

April  30,  1789 
March  4,  1793 
March  4,   1797 
March  4,    1801 
March  4,   1805 
March  4,   1809 
March  4,    1813 
March  4,   1817 
March   5,  1821 
March  4,  1825 
March  4,    1829 
March  4,    1833 
March  4,    1837 
March  4,   1841 
April      6,  1841 
March    4,  1845 
March    5,  1849 
July       9,  1850 
March   4,  1853 
March  4,    1857 
March  4,    1861 
March  4,    1865 
April    15,  1865 
March  4,    1869 
March  4,    1873 
March    5,  1877 
March   4,  1881 
Sept'r  20,  1  88  1 

Feb.  22,  1732 
Oct.  19  1735, 
April  2,  1743 

March  5,  1751 

April  28,  1758 
July    ii,  1767 
Mar.  15,  1767 

Dec.     5,  1782 
Feb.     9,  1773 
Mar.  29,  1790 
Nov.    2,  1795 
Nov.  24,  1784 
Jan.      7,  1800 
Nov.  23,  1804 
April  22,  1791 

Feb.  12,  1809 
Dec.  29,  1808 
April  27,  1822 

Oct.     4,  1822 
Nov.  19,  1831 
Oct.     5,  1830 

Dec.  14,  1799 
July     4,  1826 
July     4,  1826 

June  28,  1836 

July     4,  1831 
Feb.  23,  1848 
June    8,  i  45 

July   24,  1862 
April  4,  1841 
Jan.    17,  1862 
June  15,  1849 
July     9,  1850 

Oct.    8  1869 
June    I,  1868 

April  15,  1865 
July   30,  1875 

Sept.  19,  1  88  1 

Thomas  Jefferson.... 
Thomas  Jefferson  
James  Madison. 

James  Madison. 

James  Monroe  
James  Monroe 

John  Quincy  Adams. 
Andrew  Jackson 

Andrew  Jackson 

Martin  Van  Buren... 
Wm.  H.  Harrison.* 
John  Tyler  . 

James  K.  Polk.. 

Zachary  Taylor* 

Millard  Fillmore  
Franklin  Pierce  
James  Buchanan  
Abraham  Lincoln.... 
Abraham  Lincoln  *.. 
Andre  w  Johnson  
Ulysses  S.  Grant  
Ulysses  S.  Grant  
Rutherford  B.  Hayes 
James  A.  Garfield*  ... 
Chester  A.  Arthur.  ... 

Total  number  of  incumbents,  21. 


Died  in  office. 


HOMES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


Washington. 


Virginia. 


Massachusetts 


irginia. 


Massachusetts. 
Tennessee. 
New  York. 


Adams 

Jefferson 

Rladison 

Monroe  

Adams,  J.  Quincy. 

Jackson 

Van  Buren 

Harrison  

Tyler 

Polk 

Taylor 

Fillmore 

Pierce !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!  r 

Buchanan ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I  Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania. 

Lincoln (Kentucky ^llinois. 

Johnson ! North  Carolina [Tennessee. 

Grant |Ohio (Illinois. 

Hayes i     •'     .,  .....Ohio. 

Garfield "  •< 

Arthnr '~\  !!!  New  York'."'.'..'.'.'.'.!! 'New  York. 


Native  State. 


Whence  Elected. 


Virginia i  Virginia. 

Massachusetts Massachusetts. 


North  Carolina 

New  York 

Virginia Ohio. 

•>  ''       (Virginia. 

North  Carolina (Tennessee. 

Virginia (Louisiana. 

New  York [New  York. 

New  Hampshire. ..,New  Hampshire. 


VICE-  PRESIDENTS.  5  ^  9 

VICE-PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Vice- 
Fres. 
Term. 

Name. 

Qualified. 

Born. 

Died. 

I 

June     3,  1789  "I 

John  Adams            

Dec.     2,  1793  / 

'735 

I82B 

Thomas  Jefferson  

March  4,  1797 

1743 

1826 

March  4,  1801 

1756 

1836 

r 

George  Clinton 

March  4,  18051 

\ 

George  Clinton*    

March  4,  1809] 

1739 

1812 

Willhm  II   Crawfbrdf 

April  10,  1812 

1772 

18^4 

7 

Elbridge  Gerry*  

March  4,  1813 

1744 

1814 

John   Gaillard* 

Nov.  25,  1814 

1826 

g 

Daniel  D  Tompkins...       

March  4,  1817  ) 

9 
lo 

Daniel   D.  Tompkins  
John  C.  Calhoun  

March  5,  1821  / 
March  4,  1825  \ 

1744 

1825 

ix 

John  C  Calhoun^    

March  4,  1829  / 

1782 

1850 

Hugh  L.  Whitef  

Dec.  28,  1832 

1773 

1840 

12 

Martin  Van  Buren  

March  4,  1833 

1782 

1862 

I  "\ 

Richard  M   Johnson 

March  4,  1837 

1780 

iSso 

•J 

Id 

John  Tyler? 

March  4,  1841 

1790 

1862 

Samuel  L  Southard"}"  . 

April    6,  1841 

1787 

1842 

Willie  P.  Manrrumf 

May    31,  1842 

1792 

1861 

1C 

George  M   Dallas            

March  4,  1845 

1792 

1864 

16 

Millard  Fillmore$  

March  5,  1849 

1800 

1869 

William  R.  Kingf  

July    n,  1850  "1 

17 

William  R.  King*  

March  4,  1853  J 

1786 

l853 

David  R.  Atchisonf  

April  1  8,  1853 

1807 

Jesse  D   Bright  f 

Dec.      5,  1854 

1812 

iS 

John  C   Breckenridge.       . 

March  4,  1857 

1821 

1871; 

10 

Hannibal  Hamlin       

March  4,  1861 

1809 

20 

March  4,  1865 

1808 

1875 

Lafayette  S.  Fosterf  

April  15,  1865 

1806 

Benjamin  F    \Vade~j~ 

March  2,  1867 

1800 

21 

Schuyler  Colfax  

March  4,  1869 

1823 

22 

Henry  Wilson*                  

March  4,  1873 

1812 

1875 

Thomas  W.  Ferry  f           

Nov.  22,  1875 

1827 

23 

William  A    Wheeler  

March  5,  1877 

1819 

24. 

Chester  A    Arthur  $ 

March  4,  1881 

1830 

David  Davis  "K 

Oct.    13,  1881 

1815 

George  F.  Edmundsf  

March  3,  1883 

1828 

*  Died  in   office,     f  Acting  Vice-President   and  President  pro  tent,  of  the  Senate, 
J  Resigned  the  Vice-Presidency.     \  Became  President. 


CABINETS  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON:     April  30,  1789 — March  4,  1797  (two  terms). 

Secretary  of  State:  Thomas  Jefferson,  appointed  Sept.  26,  1789 

*'  "  Edmund  Randolph,  "  Jan.  2,  1794 

"  "  Timothy  Pickering,  "  Dec.  10,  1795 


560 


CABINETS  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


Secretary  of  Treasury:  Alexander  Hamilton,  appointed  Sept.  II,  1789 

"          Oliver  Wolcott,  "  Feb.  2,  1795 

Henry  Knox,  "  Sept.  12,  1789 

Timothy  Pickering,  "  Jan.  2,  1795 

James  Me  Henry,  "  Jan.  27,  1796 

Samuel  Osgood,  «  Sept.  26,  1789 

Timothy  Pickering,  '  Aug.  12,  1791 

Joseph  Habersham,  '  Feb.  25,  1795 

Edmund  Randolph,  «  Sept.  26,  1789 

William  Bradford,  '  Jan.  27,  1794 

"              Charles  Lee,  '  Dec.  10,  1795 

JOHN  ADAMS:  March  4,  1797 — March  4,  1801  (one  term). 

Secretary  of  State  :          Timothy  Pickering,  appointed  March  4,  1 797 


War: 


Postmaster  General: 


Attorney-  General: 


Atto 


War: 


Navy: 
Post  taster- General. 


ney-  General: 


John  Marshall, 
Treasury:  Oliver  Wolcott, 
Samuel  Dexter, 
James  McHenry, 
Samuel  Dexter, 
Rodger  Griswold, 
Benjamin  Stoddart, 
Joseph  Habersham, 
Charles  Lee, 
Theqphilus  Parsons, 


May  13,  1800 
March  4,  1797 
Jan.  i,  iSoi 
March  4,  1797 

May  13,  1800 
Feb. 3,  1801 

May  21,  1798 
March  4,  1797 
March  4,  1797 

Feb.  20,  1801 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON:  March  4,  1801 — March  4,  1809  (two  terms). 


Secretary  of  State  : 
"  Treasury 

War: 
Navy: 


James  Madison, 
Albert  Gallatin, 
Henry  Dearborn, 
Benjamin  Stoddert, 
"  Robert  Smith, 

"  J.  Crowninshield, 

Postmaster- G eneral :      Joseph  Habersham, 

"  "  Gideon  Granger, 

Attorney- General:  Levi  Lincoln, 

Robert  Smith, 

"  "  John  Breckinridge, 

"  "  Caesar  A.  Rodney, 

JAMES  MADISON;  March  4,  1809 — March  4,  1817  (two  terms). 
Secretary  of  State  :          Robert  Smith,  appointed  March  6,  1809 


appointed  March  5,  1801 
"  May  14,  1801 

"  March  5,  1801 

March  4,  iSoi 
July  15,  iSoi 
March  3,  1805 
March  4,  iSoi 
Nov.  28,  1801 
March  5,  1801 
March  3,  1805 
Aug.  7,  1805 
Jan.  28,  1807 


James  Monroe, 
Treasury:  Albert  Gallatin, 

"          George  W.  Campbell, 
"          Alexander  J.  Dallas, 
William  H.  Crawford, 
William  Eustis, 
John  Armstrong, 
James  Monroe, 
William  H.  Crawford, 
Paul  Hamilton, 
William  Jones, 
B.  W.  Crowninshield, 


War: 
« 


Navy: 


April  2,  1811 

March  4,  1809 

Feb.  9,  1814 

Oct.  6,  1814 

Oct.  22,  1816 
March  7,  1809 

Jan.  13,  1813 
Sept.  27,  1814 

Aug.  i,  1815 
March  7,  1809 

Jan.  12,  1813 

Dec.  19,  1814 


CABINETS  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


561 


Postmaster-  General: 

«c  « 

Attorney-  General: 


Gideon  Granger, 
Return  J.  Meigs,  Jr., 
Caesar  A,  Rodney, 
William  Pinkney, 
Richard  Rush, 


appointed  March  4,  180$. 

"  March  17,  1814 

"  March  4,  1809 

"  Dec.  II,  1811 

"  Feb.  10,  1814 


JAMES' MONROE:  March  4,  1817— March  4,  1825  (two  terms). 


Secretary  of  State:          John  Quincy  Adams, 


Treasury 
War: 

Navy  : 


Postmaster-  General: 


Attorney-  General: 


William  II.  Crawford, 
George  Graham, 
John  C.  Calhoun, 
B.  W.  Crowninshield, 
Smith  Thompson, 
Samuel  L.  Southard, 
Return  J.  Meigs,  Jr., 
John  McLean, 
Richard  Rush, 
William  Wirt, 


appointed  March  5,  1817 
March  5,  1817 
'*  ad  interim. 

"  Oct.  8,  1817 

'*  March  4,  1817 
"  Nov.  9,  1818 

"  Sept.  16,  1823 
"  March  4,  1817 
"  June  26,  1823 
"  March  4,  1817 
"  Nov.  13,  1817 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS:  March  4,  1825 — March  4,  1829  (one  term). 
Secretary  of  State :          Henry  Clay,  appointed  March  7,  1825 


"  War: 

Navy  : 

Postmaster-  General. 
Attorney-  General : 


Treasury  :  Richard  Rush, 


James  Barbour, 
Peter  B.  Porter,  ^ 
Samuel  L.  Southard, 
John  McLean, 
William  Wirt, 


ANDREW  JACKSON 

Secretary  of  State  : 


War 


Navy, 


Postmaster-  General : 
Attorney-  General: 


March  4,  1829 — March 
Martin  Van  Buren, 
Edward  Livingston, 
"  Louis  McLane, 

"  John  Forsyth, 

Treasury :  Samuel  D.  Ingham, 
"  Louis  McLane, 

William  J.  Duane, 
"  Roger  B.  Taney, 

Levi  Woodbury, 
John  H.  Eaton, 
Lewis  Cass, 
John  Branch, 
Levi  Woodbury, 
Mahlon  Dickerson, 
William  T.  Barry, 
Amos  Kendall, 
John  M.  Berrien, 
Roger  B.  Taney, 
Benjamin  F.  Butler, 


March  7,  1825 
March  7,  1825 
May  26,  1828 
March  4,  1825 
March  4,  1825 
March  4,  1825 


4,  1837  (two  terms). 

appointed  March  6,  1829 
May  24,  1831 
"  May  29,  1833 

"  June  27,  1834 

«  March  6,  1829 

Aug.  2,  1831 
May  29,  1833 
Sept.  23,  1833 
June  27,  1834 
March  9,  1829 
Aug.  i,  1831 
March  9,  1829 
May  23,  1831 
June  30,  1834 
March  9,  1829 
May  i,  1835 
March  9,  1829 
July  20,  1831 
Nov.  15,  1833 


MARTIN  VAN  EUREN:  March  4,  1837 — March  4,  1841  (one  term). 

Secretary  of  State :  John  Forsyth,  appointed  March  4,  1837 

"  Treasury ;  Levi  Woodbury,  "  March  4,  1837 

"  War:  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  "  March  7,  1837 

36 


562 


CABINETS  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


Secretary  of  Navy: 
«  « 

Postmaster-  General: 
Attorney-  General: 


Mahlon  Dickerson, 
James  K.  Paulding, 
Amos  Kendal, 
John  M.  Niles, 
Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
Felix  Grundy, 
Henry  D.  Gilpin, 


appointed  March  4,  1837 
June  25,  1838 

"  March  4,  1837 

"  May  25,  1840 

"  March  4,  1837 

"  July  5,  1838 

"  Jan.  II,  1840 


WILLIAM  H.  HARRISON:  March  4,  1841 — April  6,  1841  (partial  term). 


Secretary  of  State  : 
"  Treasury 

War: 

"  Navy: 

Postmaster-  General: 
Attorney-  General: 


Daniel  Webster, 
Thomas  Ewing, 
John  Bell, 
George  E.  Badger, 
Francis  Granger, 
John  J.  Crittenden, 


appointed  March  5,  1841 
"  March  5,  1841 
March  5,  1841 
March  5,  1841 
March  6,  1841 
March  5,  1841 


JOHN  TYLER  :  April  6,  1841 — March  4,  1845  (partial  term). 


Secretary  of  State  :  Daniel  Webster, 

'<    "  "  Hugh  S.  Legare, 

«  "  Abel  P.  Upshur, 

"  "  John  C.  Calhoun, 

"  Treasury  :  Thomas  Ewing, 

«  "  Walter  Forward, 

«  "  John  C.  Spencer, 

«<  "  George  M.  Bibb, 

"  War:  John  Bell, 

"  *'  John  C.  Spencer, 

«  "  James  M.  Porter, 

"  «  William  Wilkins, 

"  Navy:  George  K.  Badger, 

Abel  P.  Upshur, 

«  <'  David  Henshaw, 

«  «  Thomas  W.  Gilmer, 

«  "  John  Y.  Mason, 

Postmaster-  General '  Francis  Granger, 

Charles  A.  Wickliffe, 

Attorney- General:  John  J.  Crittenden, 

"  "  Hugh  S.  Legare, 

«  "  John  Nelson, 


appointed   April  6,  1841 
May  9,  1843 
July  24,  1843 
"          March  6,  1844 
April  6,  1841 
Sept.  13,  1841 
March  3,  1843 
June  15,  1844 
April  6,  1841 
Oct.  12,  1841 
March  8,  1843 
June  15,  1844 
April  6,  1841 
Sept.  13,  1841 
July  24,  1843 
Feb.  15,  1844 
March  14,  1844 
April  6,  1841 
Sept.  13,  1841 
April  6,  1841 
Sept.  13,  1841 
July  I,  1843 


JAMES  K.  POLK:  March 4,  1845— March  5,  1849  (one  term). 


Secretary  of  State  :          James  Buchanan, 
Treasury  :  Robert  J.  Walker, 


War  : 
"             Navy  : 
«                 « 

Postmaster-  General: 
Attorney-  General  : 
«             « 

««             *« 

William    L.  Marcy, 
George  Bancroft, 
John  Y.  Mason, 
Cave  Johnson, 
John  Y.   Mason, 
Nathan  Clifford, 
Isaac  Toucey, 

appointed  March  6,  1845 
"         March  6,  184$ 
March  6,  1845 
March   10,  1845 
Sept.  9,  1846 
March  6.    1845 
March  6,  1845 
Oct.  17,  1846 
June  21,  1848 


CABINETS  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 
ZACHARY  TAYLOR:  March  5,  1849— July  9,  1850  (partial  term). 


563 


Secretary  of  State  :          John  M.  Clayton, 
«             Treasury:  William  M.  Meredith, 

appointed  March  7,  1849 
«*•       March  8,  1849 

"              War:          George  W.  Crawford, 

"         March  8,  1849 

"             Navy:         William  B.  Preston, 

"         March  8,  1  849 

«'             Interior  :     Thomas  Ewing, 

"         March  8,  1849 

Postmaster-  General:       Jacob  Collamer, 
Attorney-  General  :          Reverdy  Johnson, 

"         March  8,  1849 
Maroh  8,  1849 

MILLARD  FILLMORE:  July  9,  1850  —  March  4, 

1853  (partial  term). 

Secretary  of  State  :         Daniel  Webster, 
«                 "               Edward  Everett, 

rppointed  July  22,  1850 
«            Nov.  6,  1852 

"             Treasury  :  Thomas  Corwin, 

«          July  23,  1850 

"             War  :          Charles  M.   Conrad, 

"        Aug.  15,  1850 

"             Navy  :         William  A.  Graham, 

July  22,    1850 

«                 "               John  P.  Kennedy, 

«           July  22,  1852 

"             Interior:     Alex.  II  .  H.  Stuart, 

«         Sept.  12,  1850 

Postmaster-  General  :       Nathan  K.  Hall, 

'«           July  23,  1850 

«                 «               Samuel  D.   Hubbard, 

Aug.  31,  1852 

Attorney-General:          John  J.  Crittenden, 

«           July  22,  1850 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE:  March  4,  1853  —  March  4, 

18^7   (one  term). 

Secretary  of  State  :         William  L.  Marcy, 
"              Treasury  :  James  Guthrie, 
"              War:          Jefferson  Davis, 

appointed  March  7,  1853 
«         March  7,  1853 
«         March  5,  1853 

"             Navy:          James  C.  Dobbin, 
«             Interior:     Robert  McClelland, 

"         March  7,  1853 
«         March  7,  1853 

Postmaster-  General:        James  Campbell, 
Attorney-  General:            Caleb  Gushing, 

«         March  5,  1853 
«         March  7,  1853 

JAMES  BUCHANAN:  March  4,  1857—  March  4, 

1861    (one  term). 

Secretary  of  State:           Lewis  Cass, 
«                 «               Jeremiah  S.  Black, 

appointed  March  6,  1857 
<            Dec.  17,  1860 

"             Treasury:  Ho  well  Cobb, 

<         March  6,  1857 

«                     «    *      Philip  F.  Thomas, 

«         Dec.  12,  1860 

««                     "           John  A.  Dix, 

«           Jan.  n,  1861 

«              War:          John  B.  Floyd, 

«         March  6,  1857 

«                 "               Joseph  Holt, 

«            Jan.  18,  1861 

"            Navy:         Isaac  Toucey, 

«         March  6,  1857 

"             Interior:     Jacob  Thompson, 
Postmaster-  General:        Aaron  V.  Brown, 

««         March  6,  1857 
'<         March  6,  1857 

«                 "               Joseph  Holt, 
«                 "               Horatio  King, 

«       March  14,  1859 
«          Feb.  12,  1861 

Attorney-  General:            Jeremiah  S.  Black, 
«             «                   Edwin  M.  Stanton, 

««         March  6,  1857 
«          Dec.  20,  1860 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN:  March  4,  1861— April  15,  1865  (one  term  and  a 

part). 

Secretary  of  State  •          William  H.  Seward,  appointed  March  5,  i86r 

«            Treasury:    Salmon  P.  Chase,  March  7,  1861 


CABINETS  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS* 


Secretary  of  Treasury . 
tt  tt 

«  War: 

"  Navy  : 

"  Interior: 

tt  ft 

Postmaster-  General : 
Attorney-  General : 


William  P.  Fessenden, 
Hugh  McCulloch, 
Simon  Cameron, 
Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Gideon  Welles, 
Caleb  B.  Smith, 
John  P.  Usher, 
Montgomery  Blair, 
William  Dennison, 
Edward  Bates, 
Titian  J.  Coffey,  ad  int., 
James  Speed, 


appointed  July  I,  1864 
"  March  7,  1865 
"  March  5,  1861 
"  Jan.  15,  1862 

March  5,  1861 
"  March  5,  1 86 1 
"  Jan.  8,  1863 

March  5,  1861 
"  Sept.  24,  1864 
"  March  5,  1861 
"  June  22,  1863 
"  Dec.  2,  1864 


ANDREW  JOHNSON:  April  15,  1865  —  March  4,  1869  (partial  term). 


Secretary  of  State  :          William  H.  Seward, 


Elihu  B.  Washburne 


Treasury 
War: 


Interior 


Postmaster-  General : 
Attorney-  General: 


Hugh  McCulloch, 
Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  ad  int., 
Lorenzo  Thomas, 
John  M.  Schofield, 
Gideon  Welles, 
John  P.  Usher, 
James  Harlan, 
Orville  H.  Browning, 
William  Dennison, 
Alexander  W.  Randall, 
James  Speed, 
Henry  Stanbery, 
William  M.  Evarts, 


appointed  April  15,  1865 
"         March  5,  1869 
"         April  15,  1865 
April  15,  1865 
Aug.  12,  1868 
Feb.  21,  1868 
May  28,  1868 
April  15,  1865 
April  15,  1865 
May  15,  1865 
July  27,  1866 
April  15,  1865 
•     July  25,  1866 
April  15,  1865 


July  23,  1866 

July  15 


1868 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT:  March  4,  1869 — March  5,  1877  (two  terms). 
Secretary  »f  State  :          Hamilton  Fish,  appointed  March  n,  1869 


Treasury . 
tt 


War  : 


Navy  : 
Interior . 


Postmaster-  General . 
ft  << 


Attorney-  General  : 


George  S.  Boutwell, 
William  A.  Richardson, 
Benjamin  H.  Bristow, 
Lot  M.  Morrill, 
John  A.  Rawlins, 
William  W.  Belknap, 
Alphonso  Taft, 
James  D.  Cameron, 
Adolph  E.  Borie, 
George  M.  Robeson, 
Jacob  D.  Cox, 
Columbus  Delano, 
Zachariah  Chandler, 
John  A.  J.  Creswell, 
Marshall  Jewell, 
James  N.  Tyner, 
E.  Rockwood  Hoar, 
Amos  T.  Akerman, 
George  H.  Williams, 
Edwards  Pierrepont, 
Alphonso  Taft, 


March  II,  1869 
March  17,  1873 

June  4,  1^74 

July  7,  1876 

March  u,  1869 

Oct.  25,  1869 
March  8,  1876 

May  22,  1876 
March  5,  1869 

June  25, 1869 
March  5,  1869 

Nov.  i,  1870 

Oct.  19,  1875 
March  5,  1869 
Aug.  24,  1874 

July  12,  1876 
March  5,  1869 
June  23,  1870 
Dec.  14,  1871 
April  26,  1875 

May  29,  1876 


COMMANDERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  ARMY. 


565 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES  :    March  5,  1877— March  4,  1881  (one  term). 


Secretary  of  State  : 

"  Treasury . 

«  War : 

«f  Navy  : 

«  Interior : 

Postmaster-  General: 
«  « 

Attorney-  General : 
JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  : 

Secretary  of  State  : 
«  Treasury 

"  War  : 

"  Navy : 

"  Interior : 

Postmaster-  General  : 
Attorney-  General : 


William  M.  Evarts, 
John  Sherman, 
George  W.  McCrary, 
Alexander  Ramsey, 
Richard  W.  Thompson, 
Nathan  GofF,  Jr., 
Carl  Schurz, 
David  McK.  Key, 
Horace  Maynard, 
Charles  Devens, 


appointed  March  12,  1877 
March  8,  1877 
March  12,  1877 

Dec.  10,  1879 
March  12,  1877 

Jan.  6,  1 88 1 
March  12,  1877 
March  12,  1877 

June  2, 1880 
March  12,  1877 


March  4,  1 88 1— September  19, 1881  (partial  term). 

appointed  March  5,  1881 

"  March  5,  1881 

"  March  5,  1881 

"  March  5,  1881 

«  March  5,  1881 

«  March  5,  1881 

"  March  5,  1881 


James  G.  Elaine, 
William  Windom, 
Robert  T.  Lincoln, 
William  H.  Hunt, 
Samuel  J.  Kirkwood, 
Thomas  L.  James, 
Wayne  MacVeagh, 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR,  September  20,  1881 


Secretary  of  State  : 

"  Treasury  : 

«  War: 

«  Navy  : 

"  Interior : 

Postmaster-  General: 
Attorney-  General : 


F.  T.  Frelinghuysen, 
Charles  J.  Folger, 
Robert  T.  Lincoln, 
William  E.  Chandler, 
Henry  M.  Teller, 
Timothy  O.  Howe, 
Benjamin  H.  Brewster, 


appointed  Dec.  12,  1881 

"  Oct.  27,  1881 

"  Sept.  20,  1 88 1 

"  April    i,  i £82 

"  April    6,  1882 

"  Dec.  20,  1881 

"  Dec.  19,  1 88 1 


COMMANDERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  ARMY— 1775-1884. 


Major-General  George  Washington  ...........  June  15,  1775,  to  December  23,  1783. 

Major-General  Henry  Knox  ....................  December  23,  1783,  to  June  20,  1784. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Josiah  Harmer,  gener- 
al-in-chief  by  brevet  .............................  September,  1788,  to  March,  1791. 

Major-General  Arthur  St.  Clair  ...............  March  4,  1791,  to  March,  1792. 

Major-General  Anthony  Wayne  ...............  April  n,  1792,  to  December  15,  1796. 


Major-General  James  Wilkinson  ...............  December  15,  1796,  to  July.  1798. 


Lieutenant-General  George  Washington...July  3,  1798,  to  his  death,  December  14,  1799. 


Major-Ge_  -_ 

Major-General  Winfield  Scott  (brevet  Lieu- 

tenant-General) June,  1841,  to  November  i,  1861. 

Major-General  George  B.McClellan November  i,  1861,  to  March  n,  1862. 

Major-General  Henry  W.  Halleck July  n,  1862,  to  March  12,  1864. 

Lieutenant  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant March  12   1864,  to  July  25,  1866,  and  as  Ge*. 

eral  to  March  4,  1869. 

General  William  T.  Sherman March  4,  1869,  to  November  i,  1883. 

Lieutenant-General  Philip  H.  Sheridan.. ..November  i,  i883.To  August  4,  1888. 


566 


CHIEF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  NAVY.' 


CHIEF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  ARMY. 

Entered  the  Army. 

Major-Generals 

Brigadier-Generals 


..Winfield  S.  Hancock 1844 

John  M.  Schofield 1853 

John  Pope 1842 

.Oliver  O.  Howard 18^4 

Alfred  H.  Terry ; 1865 

Christopher  C.  Augur 1843 

George  Crook 1852 

Nelson  A.  Miles 1866 

Ranold  S.  Mackenzie...  1862 


CHIEF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  NAVY. 


NAME. 

Whence 
Ap- 
pointed. 

Origina 
Entry 
into 
Service. 

Rank.) 

David  D.  Porter  
Stephen  C.  Rowan  

John  L.  Worden  

Ed,ward  T.  Nichols  

Penn  
Ohio  

N.  Y.... 
Ga 

1829 
1826 

1834 

1836 

Admiral. 
Vice-  Admiral.) 

i'' 

George  H.  Cooper  
Aaron  K.  Hughes  
Charles  H.  Baldwin  
Robert  W.  Shufeldt  

N.  Y  

N.  Y..:.. 

N.  Y  

N.  Y 

1837 
I838 

I§39 
l87Q 

-  Rear-  Admirals.  > 

Thomas  Pattison  

Edward  Simpson  
William  G.  Temple  
Thomas  S.  Phelps  

N.  Y  

N.  Y.... 
Vt  

Maine. 

1839 

1840 
1840 
1840 

- 

. 

Clark  H.  Wells  

S,  P.  Quackenbush. 

Penn  

N.  Y 

1840 
1840 

Earl  English  
John  H.  Upshur  
Francis  A.  Roe  
Samuel  R.  Franklin  
Edward  Y.  McCauley  
J.C.  P.  de  Krafft  

N.  J  
D.  C  
N.  Y  
Penn  
Penn  
Ill 

1840 
1841 
1841 
1841 
1841 
l84I 

-  Commodores, 

Oscar  C.  Badger.  ... 

Penn. 

1841 

Stephen  B.  Luce  

N.  Y.  .  . 

1841 

John  Lee  Davis  
Alexander  A.  Semmes  
William  T.  Truxtun  

Ind  
Md  
Penn  

1841 
1841 
1841 

Jonathan  Young  

Ill 

1841 

William  K.  Mayo  
James  E.  Jowett  

T.  Scott  Fillebrown 

Va  
Ky  

Maine. 

1841 
1841 
184! 

Johnuss  H.  Rell  

Md  

1841 

SPEAKERS.                                        567 
SPEAKERS  OF  THE  HOUSE  _QF_REPRESENT  ATI  VES.« 

Name. 

State.             ^ 

Don- 
ress 

Term  of  Service. 

F.  A.  Muhlanberg  
Jonathan  Trumbull  
F.  A.  Muhlenberg  

ennsylvania... 
onnecticut.  
ennsylvania.... 
ew  Jersey  

Massachusetts.... 
<orth  Carolina.. 

t<            " 

lassachusetts.... 

Kentucky  

=iouth  Carolina.  . 
Kentucky  

STew  York  
Virginia  
ventucky  
tfew  York  
Virginia  

Tennessee  

Virginia  
Kentucky  
Virginia  

ISt 

2d 
3d 
4th 

5th 
6th 
7th 
8th 
gth 
loth 
nth 
12th 
1  3th 
1  3th 
i4ih 
15th 
1  6th 
i6th 
1  7th 
1  8th 
I9th 
20th 
21St 
22d 

k 

24th 

25th 
26th 

27th 

28th 
29th 
30th 
3ist 

32d 

3^d 
34th 
.    ^5th 
.    36th 
.     37th 
.     38th 
39th 
40111 

'    *Kf 

42d 

43d 
.    44th 
.    44th 
45th 
46th 
..    47th 
..    48tb 

mril           x,  1789,  to  March  4,  1791 
)ctober    24,  179^.  to  March  4.  1793. 
December  2,  1703,  to  March  4,  i?95 
December  7,  1795,  to  March  4,  1797 
lay          15,  1797,  to  March  3,  1799 
Jecember  2,  1799,  to  March  4,  xboi 
Jecember  7,  1801,  to  March  4,  1803 
October    17,  1803,  to  March  4,  1805 
December  2,  1805,  to  March  4,  1807 
October    26,  1807,  to  March  4,  1809 
May           22,  1809,  to  March  4,  ion 
November  4,  1811,  to  March  4,  1813 
May          24,  i8i3,tojan'yi9.  1814 
January    19,  1814,  to  March  4,  1815 
December  4,  18.5,  to  March  4,  1817 
December  i,  1817,  to  March  4,  1819 
December  6,  1819,  to  May   15,  1820 
November  15.  1820,  to  March  4,  1821 
December  4,  1821,  to  March  4,  1823 
December  i,  1823,  to  March  4,  1825 
December  5,  1825,  to  March  4,  1827 
December  3.  1827.  to  March  4/1829 
December  7,  1829,  to  March  4,  1831 
December  5,  1831,  to  March  4,  1833 
December  2,  1833,  to  June      2,  1834 
June            2,  1834,  to  March  4,  1835 
December  7,  1835,  to  March  4,  1837 
Septembers,  1837,  to  March  4,  1839 
December^,  1839,  to  March  4,  1841 
May           31,  1841,  to  March.  4,  i»43 
December  4,  1843,  to  March  4,  1845 
December  i,  1845,  to  March  4,  x«47 
December  6,  1847,  to  March  4,  1849 
December22,  1849,10  March  4,  1851 
December   i,  1851,  to  March  4,  1853 
December  5,  1853,  to  March  4,  1855 
February    2,  1856,  to  March  4,  1857 
December  7,  1857,  to  March  4,  1859 
February     i,  1860.  to  March  4,  1861 
Inly             4,  i86l»  to  March  4,  1863 
December  7,  1863,  to  March  4,  1865 
December  4,  1865,  to  March  4,  1867 
March         4,  1867,  to  March  4,  1869 
March         4,  1869,  to  March  4,  1871 
March         4,  1871,  to  March  4,  1873 
December  i,  '873,10  March  4,  1875 
December  6,  1875,  to  Aug.    20,  1870 
December  4,  1876,  .to  March  4,  1877 
October    15,  1877,  to  March  4,  i^79 
March       18,  1879,  to  March  4,  igl 
December  5,  1881,  to  March  4,  1883 
December  3,  1883,  to 

Theodore  Sedgwick 
Nathaniel  Macon  

«                 " 
Joseph  B.  Varnum  

Henry  Clay  

Henry  Clay  

John  W.  Taylor  
Philip  P.  Barbour  

Andr.vf    Stevenson  
it                «' 

lamrs  K   Polk      

Robert  M.  T.  Hunter  

John  W.  Jones  

Robert  C.  Winthrop  |  Massachusetts 

Kentucky  

.  Massachusetts.. 
South  Carolina. 
.!New  Jersey  
J  Pennsylvania... 

Lonn     oy 

Nathaniel  P.  Banks  

Win.  Pennington  
Galusha  A.  Grow  

James  G.  Elaine  

Michael  C.  Kerr  
Samuel  J.  Randall  

f.  Wairen  Keifer  
"fnhn  (i.  Carlisle  

.  Maine  

C 

.  Indiann  
.  Pennsylvania... 

..  Ohio  
..  Kentucky  

*  Not  including  Speakers  pro  U 


CONGRESSIONAL  REPRESENTATION  OF  THE  STATES. 
I.  RATIO  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  AND  POPULATION. 


By  Constitution,  1789  ..................... 

"  First  Census,  from  March  4th,  1793. 


Second 
Third 


I8l3- 


.One  to  30,000. 
33,000. 
33,000. 


568 


CONGRESSIONAL  REPRESENTATION. 


By  Fourth  Census,  from  March  4th,  1823 One  to  40,000. 


Fifth 
"  Sixth 
"  Seventh 
"  Eighth 
lt  Ninth 
"  Tenth 


1833. 
1843- 

1853- 

1863 

1873.. 

1883. 


47,700- 
70,680. 

93,423. 
127,381. 
131,425. 
154,325. 


II.  REPRESENTATIVES  FROM  EACH  STATE  UNDER  EACH  CENSUS. 


STATES. 

Consti 
tution, 
1789. 

lst 

census 

2d 

census 

3 

Uc 
o 

*! 
*s 

u 

*l 

t?)C 

6th 

census 

#1 
ft.  § 

8 

8th 

census 

_C   =    US   3 

4J1J 

Connecticut. 

5 

6 
8 
3 
4 
6 

i 
5 

10 

7 

I 

2 

8 
14 
4 
5 
10 
10 
»3 

2 

6 
19 

2 
2 

7 

4 
9 
17 

6 
17 

12 

18 

2 

8 

22 

6 
4 
3 

7 

2 

6 

9 
20 
6 
6 
27 
13 
23 

2 

9 
23 

10 

6 
6 
6 

6 
i 

7 
9 
*3 
6 
6 
34 

ii 

2 

9 

22 
12 

5 
9 
14 

3 
i 

3 
3 

7 

i 
i 

6 
i 

9 
8 

12 

6 

40 

13 

28 

2 

9 

21 
13 

5 
13 
19 
5 
3 
7 

2 
2 

Delaware            

8 
6 

10 

4 
5 
34 
9 
24 

2 

7 
i5 

10 

4 
ii 

21 

7 
7 
10 

4 
7 
4 
5 

3 

8 
6 
ii 

3 
5 
33 
8 

25 

2 

6 
13 

IO 

3 

IQ 
21 

7 
9 
ii 

4 
6 

5 
7 

2 

4 

2 
I 
2 
2 
I 
2 
3 

I 

7 
5 

10 

3 
5 
31 

7 

24 

2 

4 
ii 

9 

T9 

6 

H 
ii 

5 
5 
5 
9 

6 

3 

i 
6 

2 

i 

4 
6 
i 

I 

9 
6 
ii 

3 
7 
33 
8 

27 

2 

5 
9 

10 

3 

IO 

20 
8 
19 

V 

6 
*3 

4 
9 

4 

2 

9 
3 
i 

6 

8 

3 
i 

i 
^ 

i 

IO 

6 

12 

2 

7 
34 

298 

2 

7 

IO 

II 

2 
IO 
21 

8 

20 

63 
4 
7 
H 
5 
ii 
6 

2 
II 

5 
i 
ii 

9 

7 
3 

i 

4 
3^5 

Georgia  

Maryland  

Massachusetts 

"New  Jersey.       .. 

New  York. 

North  Carolina... 

Pennsylvania  

Rhode  Island  

South  Carolina.... 

Kentucky 

Tennessee  

Ohio  

Alabama  

Illinois  

Indiana  

i 

- 

Louisiana  . 

i 

Maine              

i 

Mississippi.         .. 

Missouri  

Arkansas  

Michigan  

Florida  ;  

Minnesota 

Oregon  

Texas.         

Wisconsin  

Kansas  

Nebraska  

Colorado  .          

West  Virginia  

Whole  number..  

65 

105:141 

181 

213 

240 

223 

237 

243 

293 

SUPREME  COURT. 


^569 


Chief  Justices  and  Associate  Justices  of 
the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court.* 

State  Whence  Appointed. 

Term  of 
Service. 

1  789-  1  795 

1789-1791 

1789-1810 

1789-1798 
1789  1796 
1789-1790 
1790-1799 
1791-1793 

1793-1806 

1795-1795 

1796-1811 
1796-1801 
1798-1829 

1799-1804 
1801-1835 
1804-1834 
1806-1823 
1807-1826 
1811-1845 
1811-1836 
1823-1845 
1826-1828 
1829-1861 

1830-1846 

1835-1867 
1836-1864 
1836-1841 
1837-1865 
1837-1852 
1841-1860 
1845-1872 
1845-1851 
1846  1869 

1851-1857 

1853-1861 
1858-1881 
1861-1881 
1862- 
1862-1877 
1863- 
1864-1873 

1870-1880 
1870- 
1872-1882 

1874- 
1877- 
1880- 

1881- 
1881- 
1882- 

6 

2 
21 

9 
7 
i 

9 

2 
13 

15 

5 

5 
34 
30 
17 
19 
34 
25 

22 

2 
32 

16 
32 
28 

15 
19 
27 
6 
23 

8 
23 

20 
15 

9 

10 

10 

John  Jay  "j" 

New  York 

John  Rutledgef  

South  Carolina 

William  Cushing  $ 

Massachusetts  
Pennsylvania 

James  Wilson  $ 

John  Blairf  

Virginia  

Robert  H.  Harrison  f     

Maryland 

James  Iredellg     

North  Carolina 

Thomas  Johnson  "j"  

Maryland  . 

William  Patterson  g  

New  Jersey. 

John  Rutledge  J  

South  Carolina 

Samuel  Chase  g  

Maryland  

Oliver  Ellsworth  f  

Connecticut... 

Bushrod  Washington  $  

Virginia  

Alfred  Moore  f 

North  Carolina 

John  Marshall^  

Virginia  
South  Carolina 

Brockholst  Livingston  g 

New  York 

Thomas  Toddg  

Joseph  Story  g  

Massachusetts 

Gabriel  Duval  f  

Maryland 

New  York 

Robert  Trimble  g 

Kentucky 

John  McLean  §  

Ohio  

Henry  Baldwin  $  

Pennsylvania 

James   M.  Wayne  §  

Georgia 

Roger  B.  Taney  $  

Maryland      ... 

Philip  P.  Barbourg  
John  Catron^  

Virginia  

Tennessee  . 

John  McKinley  \ 

Alabama 

Peter  V.  Daniel  \.  

Virginia  

Samuel  Nelson  f  

New  York            . 

Levi  Woodbury  $ 

New  Hampshire 

Robert  C.  Grierf 

Pennsylvania 

Benjamin  R.  Curtis  f  

M  assachusetts 

John  A.  Campbellf  

Alabama 

"Nathan  Clifford  g  

Maine 

Noah  II.  Swaynej- 

Ohio 

Samuel  F.  Miller  

Iowa            .        .  ,.. 

David   Davisf  

Illinois 

Stephen  J.  Field  

California 

Salmon  P.  Chase  §  

Ohio                       

William  Strongf 

Pennsylvania 

Joseph  P.  Biadley  

New   Jersey  

Ward    Hunt  

New  Vnrlc 

Morrison  R.  Waite...              Ohio 

John  M.  Harlan  Kentucky  
William  B.  Woods,  Georgia  

Stanley    Matthews  Ohio 

Horace   Gray  Massachusetts 

Samuel  Blatchford  New  York 

*  Chief  Justices  in  heavy  type,    f  Resigned.    \  Presided  one  term.    §  Died  in  office. 


57O     WHERE  OUR  CHIEF  OFFICERS  CAME  FROM. 


WHERE  OUR  CHIEF  OFFICERS  CAME  FROM. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  Government  in  1789  to  1884, 


STATES. 

Presidents. 

V  ice- 
Presidents. 

Secretaries  of 
State. 

Secretaries  of 
Treasury. 

1  Secretaries  of 
War. 

Secretaries  of 

Navy. 

Secretaries  of 
Interior. 

Postmasters- 
General. 

Attorneys-  Seneral. 

Supreme  Court 
Justices. 

Presidents  pro  tern, 
of  Senate. 

Speakers  of  House. 

"3 

0 

H 

Alabama  

T 

2 

2 

tr 

California  

I 

I 

Colorado  , 

Connecticut  

I 

j 

2 

I 

j 

I 

j  !j 

Delaware  

2 

I 

T 

^ 

Florida  

Georgia  „  

T 

2 

? 

* 

2 

2 

7 

I 

14 

Illinois  

,, 

T 

,, 

T 

I 

I 

8 

Indiana  

T 

I 

T 

2 

2 

I 

7 

ii 

Iowa.  

? 

2 

I 

5 

Kansas  

Kentucky 

2 

I 

7 

I 

7 

2 

4 

21 

Louisiana  

I 

T 

I 

4 

Maine  ,  

I 

T 

2 

j 

I 

I 

T 

8 

Maryland  

T 

2 

T 

7 

2 

C 

C 

2 

21 

Massachusetts., 

2 

7 

7 

4 

C 

IT 

2 

4" 

76 

I 

I 

2 

6 

Minnesota  

T 

T 

Mississippi  

T 

T 

T 

T 

4 

Missouri 

I 

I 

7 

Nebraska 

Nevada  

New  Hampshire  

T 

r 

2 

T 

7 

8 

New  Jersey  

T 

7 

T 

? 

9 

New  York  

3 

7 

C 

4 

C 

7 

6 

T 

T 

41 

North  Carolina  

<\ 

7, 

3 

I 

10 

Ohio 

7 

4 

7 

7 

7 

7 

C 

T 

T 

26 

Oregon.  . 

I 

T 

Pennsylvania  . 

T 

T 

7 

7 

6 

7 

2 

6 

4 

7 

3 

38 

Rhode  Island 

2 

South  Carolina..  .  . 

f 

2 

? 

T 

I 

2 

3 

2 

r4 

Tennessee  

7 

T 

I 

? 

T 

?. 

2 

16 

Texas 

i 

Vermont 

I 

7 

4 

Virginia  

5 

2 

6 

3 

4 

T 

,1 

5 

6 

4 

40 

2 

i 

7 

Total  

— 

?O 



7/1 

37 

3° 



70 

38 

4P 

7.° 

. 

, 

OUR  REPRESENTATIVES  ABROAD. 


571 


OUR  REPRESENTATIVES  ABROAD. 


COUNTRY. 

Name  and  Rank. 

Residence. 

alary. 

Argentine   Republic 
Austria-Hungary  ... 

Belgium  

Thomas  O.  Osborn,  Min.  Res  
Alphonso  Taft,*  E.  E.  and  M.  P  

Buenos  Ayres  

#7,5°° 

12,000 

3.500 

7,5°o 
5,000 

12,000 

1,800 

10,000 
10,000 

12,000 

5,000 

7,500 

5.000 
5,000 
17.500 
3,625 

2,000 

17,500 
2,625 
2,000 
17*500 
2,625 

2,000 

6,500 
7,500 

5,000 
12,000 

3,500 

12,000 

2,500 
2,500 
5,000 

T  2,OOO 

1,800 

7,500 

5,000 

5,000 
10,000 
5,000 
6,500 
i7,5oo 
2,625 
6,500 
5,000 
12,000 
3,000 
7,5oo 
5,090 
7,5oo 
3,500 
3,000 
7,500 

Vienna  

Henry  White,  Sec.  Leg.,  and  C.  G...,. 
Nicholas  Fish,  Minister  Res  
Richurd  Gibbs,  M    R.  and  C.  G 

Vienna  
kussels  
La  Paz 

Bolivia 

Brazil           

Thomas  A.  Osborne,  E.  E.  and  M.  P. 
Charles  B.  Trail,  Sec.  Legation  

Henry  C.  Hall,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  
C.  A.  Logan,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  
.  Russell  Young,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  
Chester  Holcombe,  Sec.  and  Int  

^io  de  Janeiro  
Rio  de  Janeiro  

Central  American 
States  
Chili  

Juatemala  
Santiago  „  

Peking.. 

Colombia        

Peking 

Wm.  L.  Scruggs,  Minister  Res  
Lucius  H.  F-ote,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  
Wick'm  Hoffman,  M.  R.  and  C.  G.... 

Bogota  

Corea 

E.  J.  Brulatour,  Sec.  Legation  

Paris 

Aaron  A.  Sargent,  E.  E.  and  M.  P.... 

Berlin  

I.  Sidney  Everett,  Sec.  Legation  
Chapman  Coleman,  2d  S.  Legation  

Berlin  
Berlin  

James  R.  Lowell,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  

Greece       

£.  S.  Nadal,  2d  Sec.  Legation  
iugene  Schuyler,  M.  R.  and  C.  G  
Rollin  M.  Daggett,  Min.  Res  
John  M    Langston,  M.  R.  and  C.  G.. 

London  
Athens  

Hawaiian  Islands.... 
Hayti           

Port  au  Prince  

Italy 

Wm.  W.  Astor,  E.   E.  and  M.  P  

Japan  ... 

^ewis  Richmond,  Sec.  of  Leg.  and  C. 
G        

[ohn  A.  Bingham,  E.  E.  and  M.  P.... 
Gustavus  Goward,  Sec.  Legation  
Willis  N.  Whitney,  Interpreter  
J.  H.  Smyth,  M.  R.  and  C.  G  
Philip  H.  Morgan,  E.  E.  and  M.  P... 

Tokei  (Yedo)  
Tokei  (Yedo)  
Tokei  (Yedo)  
Monrovia  

Liberia 

Netherlands  

Paraguay   and  Uru 

Henry  H.  Morgan,  Sec.  Legation  

Wm.  L.  Dayton,  Minister  Res  

Wm.  Williams,  Charge  d'Affaires  
S.  G.  W.    Benjamin,  Min.  Res.  anc 

The  Hague 

pers!ry"'::::::::":': 

Seth  S.  Phelps,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  

Portugal  
Roumania  

John  M.  Francis,  M.'R.  and  C.  G  
Eugene  Schuyler,  M.R.andC.  G  

George  W.  Wertz,  Sec.  Legation  
Eugene  Schuyler,  M.  R.  and  C.  G..... 
J.  A.  Halderman,  M  R.and  C.  G  
JohnW   Foster  E  E  and  M    P 

Athens  
St.   Petersburg  
St.  Petersburg  
Athens  
Bangkok  
Madrid 

oiam  

Spain 

Sweden  and  Norway 
Switzerland  
Turkey       

Dwight  T.  Reed,  Sec.  and  C.  G  
Wm   W  Thomas  Jr    Min  Res 

Madrid  

Michael  J   Cramer  M  R  and  C  G      Berne 

Lewis  Wallace,  E.  E.  and  M.  P  'Constantinople  
G.  Harris  Heap,  Sec.  Leg.  and  C.  G..  Constantinople  
A.  A.  Gargiulo,  Interpreter  Constantinople  
Jehu  Baker,  Minister  Res  [Caracas  

Vene^flcla  

572        OUR  REPRESENTATIVES  FROM  ABROAD. 


OUR  REPRESENTATIVES  FROM  ABROAD 


COUNTRY. 


NAME. 


Argentine  Republic. 


Austria- Hungary 


, Seiior  Don  Louis  L.  Dominguez.* 

Senor  Don  Florencio  L.   Dominguez.f 

Baron  Ignatz   von  Schaeffer  (absent).* 

Count   von   Lippe  Weissenfield.J 

Mr.   Bounder  de  Melsbroeck.* 

j  Count   Gaston  d'Arschot.J 
Brazil Senhor  J.  G.  do  Amaral  Valente.J 


Belgium. 


Chili. 


China. 


Denmark, 
France  . . . 


Germany 


Great  Britain. 


Hawaii. 
Hayti.. 


Italy.. 
Japan. 


Mexico 


Netherlands. 


Peru  .... 

Portugal , 
Russia... 


Spain, 


Sweden  and  Norway. 


Switzerland 


Turkey. 


Uruguay 


Sefior  Don  Joaquin    Godoy.* 

Senor  Don  Federico    Pinto.f 

Mr.Cheng  Tsao  Ju.# 

Mr.  Tsii  Shau  Pung.f 

Mr.  Carl  Steen  Anderson  de  Billie.g 

Mr.  Theodore  Roustan  (absent).* 

Mr.  Horace  Denaut.J 

Captain  C.  von  Eisendecker.* 

Count  Lyden.f 

The  Honorable  L.  S.  Sackville  West.* 

Dudley  E.  Saurin,  Esq.f 

Mr.  H.  A.  P.  Carter.* 

Mr.  Stephen  Preston.* 

Mr.  Charles  A.  Preston. f 

Baron  de  Fava  (absent).* 

Marquis  A.  Dalla  Valle  de  Mirabello.J 

Joshii  Terashima  Munenori    (absent!.* 

Mr.  Naito  Ruijiro.f 

Senor  Don  Matias  Romero  (absent^.* 

Senor  Don  Cayetano  Romero. J 

Mr.  G.  de  Weckherlin  ( absent  ).g 

Baron  P.  de  Smeth  Van  Alphen  J 

Senor  Don  J.  Federico    Elmore.| 

Viscount  das  Nogueiras.* 

Mr.  Charles  de  Struve.* 

Mr.  Gregoire  de  Willamov.j' 

Senor  Don  Juan  Valera.* 

Senor  Don  Enrique  Dupuy  de  Lome.* 

Count  Carl  Lewenhaupt  (absent).* 

Mr.  C.  de  Bildt.J 

Colonel  Emile  Frey.* 

Major  Karl  Kloss.f 

Tewfik  Pasha.* 

Rustem  EfFendi.f 

Senor  Don  Enrique  M.  Estrazulas.  J 


*  Envoy     Extraordinary    and  Minister   Plenipotentiary,     f  Secretary  of    Legation. 
J  Counselor  and  Charge  d  Affaires.    §  Minister  Residentland  Consul  General. 


PAY  OF  CHIEF  OFFICERS  U.  S.  NAVY. 
PAY  OF  THE  CHIEF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  NAVY. 


At  Sea. 

On  Shore 
Duty. 

On  Leave 

or  Waiting 
Orders 

$I3,OOO 

$I3,OOO 

$I3,OOO 

o.ooo 

8,OOO 

6,OOO 

Rear-  Admirals  .            .        

6,000 

5,COO 

4,OOO 

i;,ooo 

4,OOO 

3,OOO 

4,500 

3,500 

2,800> 

3,500 

3,OOO 

2,300> 

Lieutenant-  Commanders  — 
First  four  years.                       

2,800 

2,4OO 

2,OOO 

After  four  years                   

3,000 

2,6OO 

2,2OO 

Lieutenants  —  First  five  years  

2,400 

2,OOO 

1,  6OO 

After  five  years  

2,600 

2,2OO 

1,  800 

Masters  —  First  five  years  

i,  800 

1,500 

I,2OO 

2,000 

1,700 

1,400 

Ensigns  —  First  five  years. 

1,200 

I,OOO 

800 

After  five  years        

1,400 

I,2OO 

I,OOO 

Midshipmen              .             

1,000 

800 

6OO 

Cadet  Midshipmen  

500 

5OO 

500 

Mates  

900 

700 

500 

Medical  and  Pay  Directors,  Inspectors,  and 
Chief  Engineers                                       .  . 

4  400 

Fleet  Surgeons,  Paymasters,  and  Engineers. 
Surgeons,  Paymasters,  and  Chief  Engineers  — 
First  five  years  

4,400 
2,800 

2,400 

2,OOO 

Second  five  years.. 

3,200 

2,800 

2,4OO 

Third  five  years                 ...       . 

3,soo 

3.2OO 

2,6OO 

Fourth  five  years  

3  700 

3,6OO 

2,800 

After  twenty  years  

4,200 

4,OOO 

3,OOO 

Passed  Assistant  Surgeons,  Paymasters,  and 
Engineers  —  First  five  years  

2,000 

1,  800 

I,5OO 

After  five  years  

2,200 

2,OOO 

I,7OO 

Assistant  Surgeons,  Paymasters,  and  Engi 
neers  — 

1,700 

I,4OO 

I,OOO 

After  five  years. 

I  QOO 

1,  6OO 

I,2OO 

Chaplains  —  First  five  years  

2,^OO 

2,OOO 

I,OOO 

After  five  years  

2800 

2,3OO 

I  QOO 

Boatswains,  Gunners,  Carpenters,  and  Sail- 
makers  — 
First  three  years  ,. 

1  200 

QOO 

7OO 

1  300 

I,OOO 

800 

Third  three  years  

1,400 

I,3OO 

9OO 

i,  600 

I,3OO 

I,OOO 

After  twelve  years 

i,  800 

9 
i,  600 

I,2OO 

Cadet  Engineers  (after  examination)  

1,000 

800 

6OO 

574  PA  y ME  NTS  FOR  PENSIONS. 

PAY  OF  CHIEF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  U.  S.  ARMY. 


GRADE  OR  RANK. 

Pay  of  Officers  in  Active  Service. 

Yearly  Pay. 

First  5 
years 
service. 

After  5 
years 
service. 

After  10 
years 
service. 

After  15 
years 
service. 

After  20 
years 
service. 

General               .            .... 

$13,5°° 
1  1  ,OOO 

IO  /.    C. 

20  p.    C. 

30  A  c 

40  /.  c. 

7  5oo 

5,500 

3,5oo 
3,000 
2,500 

2,000 
1,  800 
1,  800 
1,  800 
1,  6OO 
1,500 

1,500 
1,400 
I,50O 

$3,850 
3,300 
2,750 

2,200 

1,980 
1,980 
I  980 
1,760 
1,650 
1,650 

1,540 
1,650 

$4,200 
3,6OO 
3,OOO 
2,4OO 
2,  1  60 
2,  1  60 
2,  1  6O 
,920 
,8OO 
,800 
,680 
,800 

$4,500 
3,900 

3,25° 
2,600 

2,340 
2,340 
2,340 
2,080 

i,0$<? 

1.950 
1,820 
i,9S° 

$4.500 

4,000 
3,500 
2,800 
2,520 
2,520 
2,520 
2,240 
2,100 
2,100 
1,960 
2,100 

Captain  mounted.          ... 

Captain  not  mounted  

Regimental  Adjutant  

Regimental  Quartermaster  
1st  Lieutenant  mounted 

ist  Lieutenant,  not  mounted... 
2d  Lieutenant,  mounted 

2d  Lieutenant,  not  mounted.. 
Chaplain  

PAYMENTS  FOR  PENSIONS  IN  1883. 


Pensions  paid  during  the  Year. 

Number  of 
Pensioners. 

STATES. 

For  Regular 
Pensions. 

For 
Arrears  of 
Pensions. 

Salary  and 
Expenses 
of  Pension 
Agents. 

Total 
Disburse-    j 
ments. 

1882. 

1883. 

Dollars. 

1,948,453.54 
4,045,320.08 
5,863,544-76 
5,636,155.64 
2,087,440.80 
3,616,997.31 
2,753,227.40 
5,100,507.50 
2,842,400.69 
1,600,370.16 
3,282,322.78 
2,809,535.73 
3,176,762.17 
3>°54,975-95 
408,379.66 
4,088,557.37 
4,174,624  48 
3,572,433-21 

Dollars. 

5«-47 

4,091.60 
5,263.30 

8,43i-57 
4,216.72 

L4I3.73 

•2,760.28 
4,126.67 
7,483-83 
7,  353-6° 
3>5I5-42 
3,965-93 
5.364-72 
4,081.47 

2,198.01 
8,053.01 
6,97°-37 

Dollars. 

11,938.11 
18,858.60 
22,643.97 
23,562.99 
13.264-55 
14,358.56 
14,039.04 
i7>483-23 
i5,379-76 
8,353-37 
»4»391-13 
19,205.99 

i7>997-49 
13-224.50 

5,859-22 
19,240.51 

16,438.17 
22,915.73 

Dollars. 

1,960,913.12 
4,068,270.28 
5,891,449.03 
5  668,150.20 
2,104,922.07 
3,632,769.60 
2,772,026.72 
5,122,117.40 
2,865,264.28 
1,616,077.13 
3,300,229.33 
2,832,707.65 
3,200,124.38 
3,072,281.92 
414,238.88 
4,109,995-89 
4,199,115.66 
3,601,319.31 

11,526 

32jfX>4 

2|>5|7 

26,163 
11,028 
13,86,-) 
11,999 
18,805 

XZ.§3 

6,606 

13,033 
16,017 
18,715 
16,250 
1,962 
20,962 

I5,i93 
20,324 

11,827 
23,495 
25.854 
27,686 
11,007 
16,051 
13,080 
20.921 
17,189 
7,001 
14.63? 
16,141 
19,300 
16,006 
2,191 
22,338 
i7,525 
2i,393 

Massachusetts  

Ohio             

New  Hampshire... 

Tennessee  
Kentucky  ... 
Wisconsin  
New  York  
Pennsylvania  
Pennsylvania  
California  
New  York  

Dist.  of  Columbia.. 

60,064,009.23 

79,808.70 

288,154.92 

60,431,972.85 

285,697 

303,658 

BALANCE  OF  TRADE. 


575 


BALANCE  OF  TRADE, 

Showing  our  imports,  our  exports,  and  the  excess  either  way  for 
twenty  years. 


YEAR. 

Merchandise  at  Gold  Value. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Excess. 

1864    

#316,447,283 
238,745»580 
434,812,066 
395,703,100 
357,436,440 

417,506,379 
435'958,4o8 
520,223,684 
626,505,077 
642,136,210 
567,406,342 

533,005,436 
460,741,191 
451,323,126 
437.051,532 
445.777.775 
667,954,740 
642,664,628 
724,639,574 
723,180,914 

$158,887,988 
162,013,500 
348,859.522 
297.303.653 
281,952,899 
286,117,697 
392,771,768 
442,820,178 
444,177.586 
522,479,317 
586,283,040 
513,441,711 
540,384,671 
602,475,220 
694,848,496 
710,439,441 
835,638,658 
902,367,346 
750,542,257 
823,839,402 

Imports  #157,  559.295 
Imports    '  76,732,082 
Imports       85,952,544 
Imports       98,459,447 
Imports      75,483,541 
Imports    131,388,682 
Imports      43,186,640 
Imports      77,403,506 
Imports    182,417,49! 
Imports    119,656,288 
Exports       18,876,698 
Imports      19,  563,725 
Exports      79,623,480 
Exports    152,152,094 
Exports    257,796,964 
Exports    264,661,666 
Exports    167,683,912 
Exports    259,702,718 
Exports      25,902,683 
Exports    100,658,488 

1865           

1866       

1867      

1868         

1860    ., 

1870 

1871  

1872 

1877 

1874. 

187; 

1876     

1877 

1878        

1870     ,      

1880              

1881         

1882        

1883  

YEAR 

Specie. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Excess. 

1864... 

;i3,H5,6l2 

$105,396,541 

Exports  $92,280,929 

1865      

9,810,072 

67,643,226 

Exports    57,833.154 

1866 

10,700,092 

86,044,071 

Exports    75,343.079 

1867           

22,070,475 

60,868,372 

Exports    38,797,897 

1868      

14,188,368 

93,784,102 

Exports    79,595,734 

1869 

19,807,876 

57.138,380 

Exports    37,330,504 

1870        

26,419,179 

58,155.666 

Exports    31,736.486 

1871           

21,270,024 

98,44L988 

Exports    77,171,964 

1872      

I3,743'689 

79.877,534 

Exports    66,133,845 

1871    . 

21,480,937 

84,608,574 

Exports    63,127,637 

1874   

28,454,906 

56,630,405 

Exports    28,175,499 

I87C 

20,900,727 

92,132,142 

Exports    71,231,425 

1876        

15,936,681 

56,506,302 

Exports    40,569,621 

1877 

40,774,414 

56,162,237 

Exports    15,387753 

1878    

29,821,314 

33,733,225 

Exports      3,911,911 

1870    , 

20,296,0130 

24,997.441 

Exports      4,701,441 

1880  ,  

93,o34,310 

17,142,919 

Imports    75,891,391 

1881  

"0,575,497 

19,406,847 

Imports    91,168,650 

1882          

42,472,390 

49,417,479 

Exports      6,945,089 

1883  

28,489,391 

31,820,333 

Exports    -3,330,942 

576 


REVENUES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


YEAR  ENDED 
JUNE  30. 

Amount 
collected. 

Expense 
of  collecting. 

Per  cent, 
of  cost. 

1858  

$41  789  62O  96 

$2  QO7  776  80 

1859  

4O  ^6^  8^4.  78 

u.y4 

A   Oe 

1860  

c?  187  cn  87 

oH-Wjyj1-// 

7  777  l88  I  C 

ft  ?n 

1861  

•3Q    C82    I21J   64 

2  847  4s  5  84 

0.27 
7  iX 

1862  

40,0^6  7Q7  62 

3276  s6o  7Q 

/.1O 

6  6? 

1863  

60,01:0,642  40 

3  181  026  17 

4  6r> 

w 

1864  

I  O2  7l6  1^2  QO 

p 

^ 

1865... 

84  928  260  60 

»*y*O°*«43 

4.00 
6  7r» 

w 

1866  

I7Q  046  6<U  C8 

y»+*ytWy*3* 

°-39 
2  nJ? 

> 

1867  

176,417  810  88 

5767  Q7Q  OI 

^.90 
7  2fi 

w 

&4 

1868  

164,464  CQQ  $6 

7  64  1  1  1  6  68 

i"*° 

46c 

l86q 

i  So  048  426  63 

5  388  082  7i 

^    . 

1870 

IQ4  ^78  774  44 

6277  7A7  68 

•99 

0 

1871  

2O6  270,408  05 

6,c68  7^0  61 

•*o 

7  18 

fe 

1872... 

2l6  77O  286  77 

6  QSO  177  88 

s 

1873... 

188  089  522  70 

7  O7  7  864  7O 

O"'1 

7  76 

u 

1874  

167,107  877  60 

7721  460  Q4 

Jr/w 

w 

1875  

I  ^7  167  722  1$ 

7  028  521  80 

4  47 

ffi 

1876  

148  071,984.61 

6,704  8^8  OQ 

4r  -2 

H 

1877  

170,956  497.07 

6,i?OI  O77  CJ7 

406 

1878  

130,170,680.20 

5,  826,074  72 

4  47    * 

1879  

177  2  SO  O47  7O 

5477  421   tJ2 

7  QQ 

1880  

186,522  064  60 

6  O27  2^7  C7 

o-yy 

327 

1881  

108  i  so  076.02 

6  383  288  10 

322 

1882  

220  410,730.25 

6  co6  7^0  26 

2  Q"J 

l88l... 

2I4.7O6.4Q6.Q7 

6.^Q7.c;OQ.47 

7.07 

1881  

108  i  so  076.02 

>**-O»~3O'JO 

6  383  288  10 

O'-'O 

322 

1882  

220  410,730.25 

6  506  7So  26 

2  Q"J 

214  7o6  406  07 

7  O7 

f  1863... 

$77,640,787.05 

$108,685  °° 

O'W 
O  2Q 

1864  

IO9,74I,I74.IO 

2C7  772  QQ 

O  21 

1865  

209,464,215.25 

78S,270  S2 

o  18 

. 

1866 

709  226  817  42 

e  787  128  77 

i  87 

§ 

1867 

266  O~>7  S77  47 

777  S  O2Q  8  1 

2  77 

£ 

1868 

IQI  087  S8o  41 

8  7O5  766  76 

4C  {J 

w 

1869  .. 

158  356,460  86 

7,2^7  176  II 

4CQ 

5 

1870  

184,809.  7  s6  40 

7  2^7  4.^0  81 

7  02 

* 

1871  

147,098,157.67 

7,  CQ7  ,714.17 

j 

1872  

130,642,177.72 

5,694,116.86 

4.76 

<  j 

1873  

1  13,729  314.14 

5,740,270.00 

4.69 

*5 

1874 

I  O2  4OQ  784  OO 

4  ?OQ  076  O? 

4  4O 

^ 
^ 

I  IO  OO7  4Q7  C(8 

4  280  442  71 

-H 

1876  '  . 

I  l6,7OO  772  O7 

7  042  6l7  72 

7.7§ 

5 

1877 

1  1  8  670,407  87 

7,cc6,047.8t; 

2.09 

1878  

I  IO,s8l  624  74 

3  280,162.22 

2.96 

Tj 

1879  

113,561,610.58 

";. 
7.l6 

•H 

1880  

124,009,373.92 

3,657,105.10 

2.95 

1881  i 

175,264,785.51 

4,327,793.24 

3.20 

1882  

146,497,595.45 

4,097,241.34 

2.79 

1883  

144,720,368.98 

4,424,707,39 

3-05 

PUBLIC  DEBT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


577 


PUBLIC  DEBT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
\To  January  ist  of  each  year  to  1842.    To  July  ist,from  1843-1883.] 


1791  **i 

I792 77,227,924  66 

1793 80,352,634  04 

1794 78,427,404  77 

80,747,587  39 


$75,463,476  5211838 $10,434,221 


1796 83,762,172  07 

1797 82,064,479  33 

1798 79,228,529  12 

1799 78,408,669  77 

1800 82,976,294  35 

1801 83,038,050  80 

1802 86,712,632  25 

1803 77,054,686  30 

1804 86,427,120  88 

1805 82,312,150  50 

1806 75,723,270  66 

1807 69,218,398  64 

1808 65,196,317  97 

09 


1809 

1810 53>I73,2I7  . 

1811 48,005,587  76 

1812 45,209,737  90 

1813 : 55,962,827  57 

1814 81,487,846  24 

1815 99,833,660  15 

1816  127,334,933  74 

1817 123,491 ,965  1 6 

1818 103,466,633  83 

1819 95,529,648  28 

1820 91,015,566  15 

1821 89,987,427  66 

1822  93,546,676 

1823 ; 90,875,877  28 

1824 90,269,777  77 

1825 : 83,788,432  71 

1826 81,054,059  99 

1827 73,987,357  20 

1828 67,475,043  87 

1829 58,421,413  67 


I839 3,573,343  82 

?4o : 5,250,875  54 

1843 32,742,922  oo 

1844 23,461,652  50 

l845 15,925,303  01 

1846 15,550,202  97 

1847 38,826,534  77 

1848 47,044,862  23 

69 


841 13,594,480 

842 20,601,226 


1849 63,061,85; 


1850. 


63,452,773 
68,304,796 
66,199,341 


02 
71 

1853 59,803,117  70 

1854 42,242,222  42 

1855 35,586,858  56 


1856 31,972,55: 


1857. 


28,699,* 


1858 44,911,881 

1859 58,49M37 

1860 64,842,287 

1861.... 90,580,873 

1862 524,176,412 

1863 1,119,772,138 

1864 1,815,784,370 

1865 2,680,647,869 

1866 2,773,236,173 

1867 2,678,126,103 

1868 2,611,687,851 

1869 2,588,452,213 

1870 2,480,672,427 

1871 2,353,211,332 

1872 2,253,251,328 

1873 2,234,482,993 

1874 2,251,690,468 

1875 « 2,232,284,531 

1876 : 2,180,395,067 


°3 
88 
*8 
72 
13 
63 
57 
74 
69 

87 
19 

94 
81 
32 
78 

20 


1830 48,565,406  5o|i877 2,205,301,392  10 

1831 39,123,191  68|i878 .2,256,205,892  53 

1832 24,322,235  181879 2,245,495,072  04 

1833 7,001,698  8311880 2,120,415,370  63 

1834 4,760,082  o8'i88i 2,069,013,569  58 

1835..  37,5!3  0511882 1,918,312,994  03 

1836 336,957  831883 1,884,171,728  07 

1837 3.308,124  07 


578 


POLITICAL  DIVISION  OF  THE  HOUSE. 


POLITICAL  DIVISION  OF  THE  PRESENT  HOUSE  OF  REPRE, 
SENTATIVES. 


STATES. 

1 

8* 

&  ' 

STATES. 

1 

d 

«  ' 
M 

Alabama  

8 

Missouri  

14- 

Arkansas  

c 

Nebraska  

7 

California                 .... 

6 

Nevada..        

I 

Colorado            ...       

New  Hampshire  ... 

2 

Connecticut.          

•7 

i 

New  Jersey... 

•? 

4 

Delaware  

I 

New  York  

21 

17 

Florida 

I 

j 

North  Carolina.. 

8 

I 

Ohio  

13 

8 

Illinois    .. 

j  i 

Oregon.                

i 

Indiana                          

q 

Pennsylvania  

12 

15 

Iowa                          

4 

7 

Rhode  Island  

2 

South  Carolina  . 

6 

I 

Kentucky 

2 

Tennessee 

8 

2 

Louisiana                             . 

c 

j 

Texas.         .  .. 

10 

I 

Maine 

Vermont  

2 

Maryland                              . 

A 

2 

Virginia       

4 

5 

Massachusetts 

•2 

3 

i 

M  i  chigan                       .     .•;  . 

6 

C 

Wisconsin  

6 

3 

Minnesota    .              

C 

Mississippi 

6 

Total        

ioS 

124 

^       •  -• 

Total 

Greenback 

Vacancies. 


322 
I 

2 


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